AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2006 > December
December 2006
Players’ sad effort will cost their coach
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Philadelphia — Arthur Blank didn’t need another reason to fire his head coach. He got one anyway. Looking down from his owner’s box Sunday, he saw a team, his team, the one with the nearly $111 million payroll, had morphed into a bus. Jim Mora was somewhere underneath.
If Mora loses his job, he’ll need at least a year to scrub the tire marks off his forehead. For all the talk about pride and effort, for all of Mora’s claims that he repeated Sunday about the Falcons being composed of “high-character, hard-working” players, they were anything but that in their final game. Or their final three. Or for most of this season.
If the Falcons wanted to kill their coach, well, congrats, boys. You stomped that sucker flat. The performance against a Philadelphia team that had absolutely nothing to play for — and accordingly played backups for all but41/2 minutes — spoke volumes.
The Falcons lost to Eagles Lite 24-17.
This is how you destroy what little career a man has left. The Eagles’ third-string quarterback, A.J. Feeley, who had thrown five passes all season, completed 22 of 31 for 321 yards and three touchdowns. The offense was no more efficient against backups than it has been against starters.
The team lost seven of its final nine after a 5-2 start. It also went 0-3 after Mora went on a Seattle radio station and (you decide) either professed his love/joked about desiring a college job 3,000 miles away, while in a playoff race. You decide if that’s coincidence.
“We definitely made it hard for him,” running back Warrick Dunn said. He didn’t mean that to sound like some accomplishment.
“There’s a lot of really good coaches on this staff, and a lot of times you can’t blame the coaches.”
Yeah. Except, well, duh.
This was not a well-coached team this season. It was not a team that reacted well in big games. For that, coaches pay the price. At the very least, Mora’s coordinators, Greg Knapp and Ed Donatell, probably are gone. After what happened Sunday, it would border on a miracle if the entire staff, Mora, included, isn’t blown out.
“No comment,” was all Blank would say Sunday when asked about Mora’s future. He then wished a reporter, “Happy New Year,” spoke privately with general manager Rich McKay for a few minutes and proceeded down a tunnel at Lincoln Financial Field before stepping into an awaiting car.
McKay was only slightly more accommodating. He initially said his “entire focus” has been on Sunday’s game. But when asked if a decision already has been made, he said, “I’m sure the answer to that is no. But I don’t think it’s appropriate right now to talk about that issue.”
That wasn’t a position shared by players. Most notably, Michael Vick had at least three opportunities to come to Mora’s defense in the interview room and didn’t. If Mora is fired, Vick said, “It wouldn’t be tough for me to learn a new system. If it didn’t happen, it’s all good. I’m just a player and I just want to continue to play ball and not worry about what’s going to happen in our organization.”
What is that? Leave me alone?
When told his remarks didn’t sound like he was endorsing Mora’s return, Vick said: “I don’t know, man.”
Whoever ends up coaching this team, here’s issue No. 1: Turn Vick into a leader. Because on Sunday, he was the bus driver.
Two years ago on this same field, the Falcons lost to the Eagles in the NFC title game. That wasn’t viewed as an ending for Mora, but the beginning. There’s no way to explain what has happened since. There’s no explanation for erratic play and inconsistent effort.
There’s no explanation for reaching a new season low — and who imagined that was possible after consecutive losses to Detroit and Cleveland (teams that finished a combined 7-25). The Eagles outgained the Falcons despite pulling 15 starters immediately after learning Detroit had upset Dallas, giving them the NFC East title.
The Falcons didn’t pull their starters. Pray that happens in the offseason.
If Mora had a sense of his future, he wasn’t saying.
“I expect to get on that plane and go home,” he said. “After that, I don’t know.”
He praised his players. Maybe it was because Blank was sitting in the first row and didn’t want to look bad. But it might be too late for that.
Permalink | Comments (215) | Post your comment | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Jeff Schultz
Mood of season rides on bowl win
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Talk about a must-win game. It’s in Jacksonville Monday for Georgia Tech’s reeling football team against West Virginia during the Gator Bowl. Anything less than a Yellow Jackets victory would turn an already messy season into something just shy of unfathomable.
How unfathomable? Well, Chan Gailey would complete the journey from previously beleaguered coach who discovered magic during the start of his fifth season at Tech to suddenly beleaguered coach whose Jackets did all sorts of destructive things to turn prosperity before Halloween into poverty after Thanksgiving Day.
Consider this: With a loss, Tech would finish with a three-game losing streak after climbing as high as 13th in the October polls of the Associated Press, USA Today/Coaches and Harris. The Jackets’ rise in national consciousness was punctuated by a rare whipping of traditional power Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. Just like that, Georgia Tech had the ACC’s brightest future, but then the clouds gathered around the Jackets in a hurry.
In no particular order, there was another disaster against the Bulldogs, and there was that meltdown against Wake Forest in the ACC championship game. The Jackets also looked scared in Death Valley against Clemson. Plus, even though they roared to a five-game winning streak after losing their opener at home to Notre Dame, the question remains: Why did the Jackets stop throwing to the great Calvin Johnson during the second half against the gasping Irish?
Not only that, members of Tech’s coaching and athletics support staffs twiddled their thumbs or something as Reggie Ball, their starting quarterback, and Kenny Scott, their best cover cornerback, became academically ineligible for the Gator Bowl.
The thing is, the Jackets can turn these negatives into a positive, but they have to do something first.
Win.
Like now.
And then Tech would have to win again during its next game in South Bend, Ind., to start the 2007 season.
Listen to Tashard Choice, Tech’s efficient running back, who knows exactly how to push his team back in the vicinity of the elite. It starts with the acknowledgement by Choice and the rest of the Jackets that this game against the famously swift legs of 13th-ranked West Virginia is big.
“I think it’s really big,” said Choice, the ACC’s leading rusher after averaging more than 100 yards per game. “Winning this game by beating West Virginia only will get us thinking about starting out next season with that big game at Notre Dame. That’s going to be huge. We’re going to start looking at Notre Dame really early. But first we have to win this game, and then start going into the offseason conditioning program, and then start preparing for the summer, and then the clock really starts ticking.”
The Jackets’ clock struck midnight last season after they were clobbered by a mediocre Utah bunch in something called the Emerald Bowl.
Still, Tech used that as motivation to set the foundation for much goodness this season.
You had Choice’s wonderful season, for instance. Then there was Durant Brooks punting his way to second-time All-America honors. The defense continued as a consistent force through the brilliant schemes of Jon Tenuta and more than a few gifted athletes. Johnson also was Johnson, which is to say he was otherworldly. If that wasn’t enough, Tech’s recruiting was its best in years. According to rivals.com, the Jackets’ recruiting should finish second or third in the conference and among the nation’s top 15.
None of that will matter if Tech doesn’t do what it has to do Monday. Said Choice, nodding, “We talk about this all the time, and that is, you always want to end your last game with a win.”
In this case, the Jackets HAVE to end their last game with a win.
Permalink | Comments (36) | Post your comment | Categories: Tech / ACC, Terence Moore
Win mixed with pangs of regret
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
The seniors on Georgia’s football team are a proud group. That’s why, after the schizophrenic Bulldogs ended their regular season in November after the shredding of No. 5 Auburn on the road and another triumph in their rivalry with a Georgia Tech bunch that was ranked No. 16, there was much gnashing of teeth.
Not among the losers of those games, but among the winners.
Earlier this week, for instance, center Nick Jones sighed as his Bulldogs prepared to meet No. 14 Virginia Tech on Saturday night in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Then the senior said, “As players, you look back at some of the losses this year, and you think about how you’ve beaten great teams like Auburn and Georgia Tech, and you just say to yourself, ‘Dang.’ “
Dang, as in how did Georgia get flattened like that at home by Tennessee? Dang, as in how come the Bulldogs lost to the hated Gators again? Dang, as in how can Georgia lose to Vanderbilt or Kentucky during any season, and how did they get upset by both this season? Dang, as in how come Georgia couldn’t play this way all season after slaying Virginia Tech by turning a 21-3 deficit at halftime into an unlikely 31-24 victory?
“What a comeback like this tells us is that we always play together, and we always play with heart, and that we realize that it’s a 60-minute game, not a 30-minute game,” said Charles Johnson, Georgia’s magnificent defensive end, who was everywhere. His sack of Virginia Tech’s Sean Glennon in the fourth quarter produced a fumble that Georgia recovered and used to create a scoring drive that continued its run toward 28 consecutive points.
This was encouraging stuff, especially if you’re among the Bulldog Nation in search of signs that 2007 will be Georgia’s return to at least the edge of the elite.
Barring injury, the Bulldogs will have Brandon Coutu’s prolific right leg for a whole season. He proved his worth against Virginia Tech after he returned from a nearly three-month layoff (hamstring) with field goals of 39, 51 and 28 yards. Too bad Georgia loses seven starters from a defense that kept making Virginia Tech’s offense implode. Even so, with the accomplished Willie Martinez as defensive coordinator, the Bulldogs will be fine.
Georgia has a nice quarterback, too, with Matthew Stafford using the second half of the Virginia Tech game as his coming-out party. After more than a few sloppy moments in the first half, including an interception that triggered Virginia Tech’s early explosion, Stafford had more than a few splendid moments. None surpassed his well-placed bullet at the start of the fourth quarter to a streaking Martrez Milner for a 41-yard play. It put the Bulldogs at the Virginia Tech 2. Kregg Lumpkin rushed to close Georgia’s deficit to 21-19, and then Stafford fired a pass to Milner in the back of the end zone for the tie.
The tie became a lead that Georgia wouldn’t relinquish. Then again, there was that omen for the Bulldogs. Days, weeks, months prior to the opening kickoff, the folks at the Chick-fil-A Bowl asked a guy if he would do a prayer before the playing of the national anthem.
That guy accepted. Some guy named Herschel Walker.
Actually, during the early part of the evening, this was Georgia’s version of “The Omen,” only this horror movie involved the Bulldogs getting spooked by the Hokies and by themselves. When Stafford wasn’t playing like a freshman, the Bulldogs were forgetting how to tackle on their punt coverage team and how to catch on offense, period.
Then the strangest things happened. Mostly, Stafford quit looking like a freshman. And his receivers began catching passes. And the Georgia defense continued to outshine the nation’s top-ranked defense across the way. And the Bulldogs’ seniors were turning frowns into smiles.
Permalink | Comments (60) | Post your comment | Categories: Terence Moore, UGA / SEC
New Year forecast
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
JANUARY
• Front page: In the most unpopular move of his tenure, or at least since the crushed red velvet jacket he wore two weeks ago, Arthur Blank announces he will keep Jim Mora for one more season. Greg Knapp and Ed Donatell are not fired but are found to be missing. A team spokesman refers all questions to the Hall County Sheriff’s Department, which in a reflex response says only that Rod Coleman did not hit the deer and further comment will be made after their next exchange of faxes with Flowery Branch.
• Inside: Florida loses to Ohio State in the BCS title game but is awarded the championship because BCS voters felt it was time for a fresh face. … Mark McGwire fails to gain enough Hall of Fame votes but is under consideration at Fernbank. … The Hawks hold Joe Johnson Team USA Collectible Statue night, and in a surprise move starts one at point guard.
FEBRUARY
• Front page: After six seasons of NHL futility, the Thrashers continue their amazing run and go 7-2-3 in February to open a comfortable lead in the Southeast Division. The Atlanta Spirit release a statement crediting the franchise’s turnaround to their guidance and strong ownership. Two days later, a car carrying owners and attorneys simultaneously runs out of gas on the way to court. Steve Belkin wins a judgment by default.
• Inside: The Eagles win the Super Bowl with Jeff Garcia, while Donovan McNabb watches. Rush Limbaugh’s ratings spike. … Evander Holyfield announces that because of diminishing skills and financial losses in his recent pay-per-view fight, he will fight only until he’s 62.
MARCH
• Front page: On the one-year anniversary of his hiring by Major League Baseball, former U.S. senator George Mitchell holds a news conference to announce that while he couldn’t compel any player to testify about steroids, he frequently watches SportsCenter and stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night, and he suspects somebody may have cheated.
• Inside: UCLA, Ohio State, UConn and Butler reach the Final Four in Atlanta, ensuring a non-ACC champ for the fifth time in six years. Mike Krzyzewski secedes from the conference. … The Braves report to spring training with 29 potential relievers. Burger King officials scout the games and await cuts. … Chris Paul and Deron Williams are running second-third in NBA assists. Billy Knight’s reaction, “I laugh at lesser beings.”
APRIL
• Front page: In his first state-of-the-Masters news conference as the new chairman of Augusta National, Billy Payne says he has extended an invitation to Sandra Day O’Connor to become the club’s first female member. The former Supreme Court Justice accepts the invitation but resigns when she’s asked to drop off some dry cleaning.
• Inside: Phil Mickelson wins the Masters and says he’s ready to challenge Tiger for golf supremacy, but nobody believes him this time. … The Thrashers defeat Ottawa in the first-round of the playoffs. Dany Heatley asks to be traded.
MAY
• Front page: Hoping for the consensus No. 1 pick, Ohio State center Greg Oden, the Hawks lose the draft lottery and will select seventh. But the second player on their board falls to them next month: Rumeal John-Paul Arvedas Koncakis, a 6-foot-9 swingman from a small fishing village in Montenegro.
• Inside: Barry Bonds ends the month with seven home runs on the season, giving him 741, but is put on the disabled list when his head explodes. Giants fans blame the media. … A horse wins the Triple Crown, then complains that Barbaro has been getting all the chicks “since his little injury.”
JUNE
• Front page: Twenty-seven weeks after being told by Nick Saban to hang on for a second while he switches to a phone in the other room, Alabama AD Mal Moore passes out and falls face first in his Bear Bryant chip bowl. The school then names Mike Price as its new football coach. Price asks if anybody can change a $50 for some singles.
• Inside: The Braves go .500 in June and stand 8-1/2 games behind the Mets in the NL East. Schuerholz cannot be reached for comment at a book signing. … Roger Federer, coming off three Grand Slams in 2006, wins Wimbledon. He spends two weeks in New York without being recognized, until somebody tells him he looks like that guy in “Goldfinger.”
JULY
• Front page: The French fume as an American is again declared the winner of the Tour de France. It’s Billy Moskowitz, a 9-year-old from Bemidji, Minn., riding a 1972 Schwinn Stingray. The remainder of the field tests positive for performance-enhancing substances. Despite protests, officials from laboratories in Spain, France and Switzerland vow to uphold test results, just as soon as they can remember where they put them.
• Inside: The Falcons open camp with new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave. … Musgrave says he plans to bring a new wrinkle called the “screen pass” to the offense. Also, electricity and indoor plumbing. … Baseball’s All-Star Game is held in San Francisco, home of BALCO. George Mitchell can’t get a ticket.
AUGUST
• Front page: Eighteen months after announcing it was close to a stock swap with Liberty Media that would complete a sale of the Braves, Time-Warner announces that the deal has fallen apart and the team is back on the market. John Schuerholz assures everybody that the news will not affect him at the trade deadline. But he then makes only one move, acquiring reliever Orlando Jiminez, who had been let go in camp and then picked up by Burger King.
• Inside: Blank asks Bobby Cox if he would have any trouble with him coming down to the dugout for the last two innings. … The U.S. loses to Uruguay in the FIBA Americas Olympic qualifying tournament. Joe Johnson is strapped to a gurney and carried off the court in the fourth quarter, mumbling something about Josh Smith and 3-point attempts.
SEPTEMBER
• Front page: With no Reggie Ball but also no Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech opens its season at Notre Dame, losing 27-13, giving Chan Gailey four straight losses going back to last season. The loss reignites the “Can Chan” cries from Tech fans. But school officials say buying out Gailey’s previously extended contract would force them to cut costs in the Academic Oversight Department, which obviously was already operating with two part-timers and a hamster.
• Inside: Georgia goes 4-0 in September. Bulldogs fans objectively project their next loss in 2012. … Evander Holyfield announces a comeback against Jersey Joe Walcott. Walcott, who is dead, takes Holyfield into the ninth round.
OCTOBER
• Front page: After a 5-2 start, a relaxed and jovial Mora decides to do an interview with a Honolulu radio station, during which he says it’s always been his dream to coach the Hawaii lacrosse team and adds that he would tell Blank, “I’ve got your consensus right here!” the second the job opened up. Mora turns up missing the next day, and the team again refers questions to the Hall County Sheriffs, who say they’re still working on the Rod Coleman report.
• Inside: After a 7-0 start, Georgia loses to Florida, 21-3. … The Twins, with the No. 17 payroll, defeat the Yankees, Red Sox and Mets in the postseason to win the World Series.
NOVEMBER
• Front page: Two months into the season, Terrell Owens signs with the Browns. He then spits on a plaque of Jim Brown, catches three passes in four games, whines that he is underappreciated, takes credit for a drop in gas prices, says he’s thinking about running the United Nations and then attempts suicide, which fails when he keeps dropping the pistol, the gun goes off and the bullet hits Drew Rosenhaus in the hiney.
• Inside: Georgia goes 10-1 with an SEC title game berth clinched and an outside chance at the BCS title game, but then loses at Tech, 9-7. Gailey gets a three-year extension. … Holyfield tries to sell his next title shot as a script to Hollywood. The producers of Rocky VI reject it as implausible.
DECEMBER
• Front page: After a 6-7 start, Blank fires Mora, who thanks Blank for the opportunity, then begins to reel off statistics that indicate the Falcons were just two blocks away from being unbeaten, and Vince Lombardi can eat his shorts.
• Inside: Andruw Jones signs with the Yankees. He asks not to sit next to A-Rod in the clubhouse. … The Falcons go 2-1 under interim coach Joe DeCamillis. Blank considers hiring him after suspecting Tony Dungy, let go by Indianapolis, will request too much power.
Permalink | Comments (23) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Falcons / NFL, Hawks / NBA, Jeff Schultz, Tech / ACC, Thrashers / NHL, UGA / SEC
No drastic change with Bobo calling plays
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
This is good news. Except for a tweak here and there, nothing will change any time soon regarding Georgia’s offensive philosophy in football. Well, not until the Bulldog Nation runs out of Roman numerals for Uga mascots, or Mike Bobo stops doing a wonderful impression of head coach Mark Richt calling plays.
Bobo doesn’t mind evolving into a Richt clone, by the way. “I’m going to go to him for a lot of things and to ask for advice about certain ways to plan against and to attack defenses,” said Bobo, formerly Georgia’s quarterbacks coach. He officially will begin as offensive coordinator and permanent play caller for the Bulldogs tonight in the Georgia Dome against Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
Then Bobo said of Richt, only among the nation’s most prolific coaches, “You just got to use his experience.”
Actually, this is great news, but only if you live in the common sense part of the Bulldog Nation. There are those who’d rather spit at a picture of Herschel Walker than have Georgia continue with what critics believe is a flawed offense. “You hear people saying that we’re not scoring in the red zone. We’re turning the ball over. We’re not scoring enough points, because they want us to score on every drive, and they want us to be No. 1 in the country on offense,” said Bobo, the former Bulldogs quarterback, rattling off the list with ease. “We know that, deep down inside, everybody realizes that being [the best offense in the nation] is hard to do. The bottom line is winning games.”
The bottom line has been impressive for Georgia during Richt’s six seasons, which have produced three SEC Eastern Division titles, two conference championships and a 60-17 record for the fifth-best winning percentage (.779) among active coaches.
Much of that happened under Richt’s play calling. And get this: The primary difference between the play calling of Richt and Bobo is that Bobo has more of a drawl when he speaks into the headsets. That’s why Bobo will continue the Richt-like offensive strategies he used as Georgia’s temporary play caller during its 15-12 victory over Georgia Tech to end the regular season. The transition began after Richt decided to relinquish his play-calling duties after 13 consecutive seasons.
Was Richt too predictable at times down the stretch? Yep. Did he have a tendency not to stick with one of his Three Horsemen (Kregg Lumpkin, Danny Ware and Thomas Brown) when one of them was sizzling? Uh-huh. Were those mighty enough reasons to trash Richt’s overall play calling? Please. The guy spent his seven years before coming to Georgia running a Florida State offense that ranked among the nation’s top five in scoring five times. He coached six FSU quarterbacks who eventually reached the NFL, and there also were his two Heisman Trophy winners.
So why all of the Richt bashers (who likely will become Bobo bashers) regarding Georgia’s offense?
Amnesia comes to mind.
Georgia began this season with a question mark behind center after five years of exclamation marks. Remember? While Richt helped David Greene and D.J. Shockley finish as two of the best quarterbacks in SEC history, Richt started three different quarterbacks this season before settling on Matthew Stafford, a gifted freshman, but still a freshman.
The running game lost the efficient Brown to a knee injury in mid-October. Plus, in addition to the Bulldogs producing more turnovers (30) than any Georgia team in 27 years, the receivers kept killing drives with dropped passes, and the offensive line kept losing players.
No wonder only Mississippi State and Ole Miss ranked lower than Georgia in the SEC this season in total offense. “We’ve been really successful under Coach Richt, and he’s still catching some grief, but it never fazes the man,” Bobo said. “He’s very comfortable with what we’re doing and how we are approaching each game, and I’ve learned from him. That’s definitely going to help me in the future.”
A little less vanilla and slightly more tutti-frutti from Georgia’s playbook at crunch time would help Bobo, too.
Permalink | Comments (21) | Categories: Terence Moore, UGA / SEC
Eagles will finish off Falcons
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Let me start by saying it’s not over.
It’s never over.
When Jim Mora can lose to the Browns, Lions and Chris Weinke and somehow spin the league’s most dysfunctional offense into, “We have the fourth-most wins in the NFC [over three seasons],” it’s absolutely never over.
Yes, there are at least three scenarios in which the Falcons can make the playoffs:
They defeat the Eagles, while the Giants, Packers and Panthers all lose or tie.
They tie the Eagles, while the Giants, Packers, Panthers and Rams all lose.
Billy Knight: NBA executive of the year.
Knight would be the slight favorite.
Two years ago, the Falcons played their final game in Philadelphia. That was for the NFC championship.
On Sunday, Mora likely coaches the season’s final game in Philadelphia again. This is for his parking space.
Or the Nobel. I get those confused sometimes, and the speech the other day had me thinking, “Schweitzer.”
There are two problems Sunday. First, the duh: The Falcons aren’t very good. Second, they’re playing a team with something to play for. The Eagles can clinch a division. Also, they’re breathing.
The line is 7 1/2. By what, the second quarter?
Spin this: Eagles cover.
Semi-Pros
Bol du Poulet: Overconfidence in a bowl game shouldn’t be a problem for Georgia against Virginia Tech. The Bulldogs floated into the Georgia Dome last January and got smacked by West Virginia. This time, they face a defense that allowed only two touchdowns in the past six games. Maybe I’m putting too much stock in the Matthew Stafford turnaround. But: Take the 2 1/2, and Dogs in an upset.
Gator: If you’re a Georgia Tech fan, what’s worse? That you’re about to finish with three straight losses, or that after being slapped by the NCAA you still had three players (all seniors, including a starting quarterback) academically ineligible for a bowl game? West Virginia is giving 11. Too much. But Jackets go down.
Sugar: Hate to interrupt the continuing canonizing of Charlie Weis. But Notre Dame is about to break an NCAA record with nine straight bowl losses (two under Weis). But then, the saying is, “Cheer, Cheer for Old Notre Dame,” not new. LSU covers 9.
Orange: Nothing says BCS like Louisville-Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl. Cards win, but Wake will keep it closer than 10.
Rose: Michigan was jobbed by the BCS, but here’s the only motivation it needs: It still has a shot at the AP title. Take the 1, but Wolverines beat Southern Cal.
Music City: When asked by a cop last week if he had drugs in the car, Clemson cornerback Duane Coleman said, “We done smoked it.” A thought: Make presidential candidates to get high before a debate, in the name of honesty. Tigers win, but take Kentucky and 9 1/2.
Semi-Cons
Giants at Redskins: There are a lot of things you can say about Tom Coughlin. Never thought dumb would be one of them. He dumps offensive coordinator (John Hufnagel) for the last game but gives play-calling duties to five-time loser Kevin Gilbride instead of taking over himself. Guess he’s got an offer on the house already. Skins in an upset (grab the 2 1/2).
Lions at Cowboys: So Carrie Underwood is dating Tony Romo. I guess she’s still looking at game tape from November. Dallas wins, but take Detroit and 12 1/2.
Rams at Vikings: If the NFL loves parity so much, this must be their crowning achievement: The NFC’s final wild-card entry may end up being a team that recently lost five straight and seven of eight. The Rams have three things going for them: Marc Bulger, Steven Jackson and scheduling. St. Louis covers 2 1/2.
Steelers at Bengals: The Bengals’ playoff chances suddenly hinge on the Jets losing to the Raiders. The good news is they hold tiebreaker advantages over San Quentin and Leavenworth. Cincy wins, but take Pitt and 6.
Packers at Bears: The Bears are looking forward to smothering the Packers’ playoff chances. They reaffirmed this by announcing Rex Grossman might be pulled early. (Attention, remaining Brett Favre fan(s): Your boy is 0-6 against winning teams this year.) Bears cover 2 1/2.
Regress reportLast week: Um, that would be the week after two weeks ago.
Shut up: I know what you meant.
Season to date: 99-67 straight up, 76-88-2 against the spread.
Permalink | Comments (66) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Jeff Schultz, Tech / ACC, UGA / SEC
Lack of quality candidates may help Mora
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Barring an implausible confluence of results this weekend, the Falcons will miss the playoffs. They have underachieved by any stretch of the imagination, possibly even Jim Mora’s.
Their owner is upset.
Their players are venting.
Greg Knapp and Ed Donatell — broken down for kindling.
In short, you don’t need to look hard for a reason to fire Jim Mora. But as any owner or administrator outside of Tuscaloosa will tell you, it’s never wise to fire somebody without a plan, and while there are several reasons to change coaches, there is one significant reason not to:
Who’s next?
This isn’t a lobbying effort to keep Mora. But if Arthur Blank next week decides to give more fire-breathing speeches about demanding more, blows up Mora’s staff of assistants but decides to keep his head coach, it’s because there are exactly zero gotta-have candidates available.
I understand the obvious counter-argument: Either you keep a coach because he’s right for the job or you fire him because he’s not. But Mora at least has his tippy-toes in the gray area — folks, he was pretty good for a year and half — and the field of candidates might be making Blank go, “Hmmm.”
Understand something. When Mora was hired three years ago, he was a relatively obscure choice floating in a pool of obvious qualifiers. Joe Gibbs, then a member of the Falcons’ board of directors, decided to return to coaching, but with Washington, not here (how hard Blank tried to keep him is up for debate). Nick Saban would’ve taken the Falcons’ job but was never offered it (he accurately wasn’t perceived as a “consensus” guy). Lovie Smith, then the St. Louis defensive coordinator, apparently didn’t wow anybody in the interview. (Oops.)
And now? Look around:
• Jimmy Johnson: Not happening, certainly not here as the third wheel below Blank and Rich McKay.
• Steve Mariucci: Why do you want him? He was 15-28 in Detroit. The final straw: a loss to the Falcons. He was 60-43 in San Francisco but only 3-4 in the playoffs, with an organization that had been accustomed to Super Bowls. (He also lost a playoff game to the Falcons.)
• Pete Carroll: Hasn’t proved that he can coach in the NFL. If anything, he has proved he can’t.
• Steve Spurrier: Kidding.
• Ken Whisenhunt: Pittsburgh’s offensive coordinator easily is the best assistant out there, and he’s a Georgia Tech alum. But he’s Bill Cowher’s heir apparent, and Cowher might be finished Sunday.
• Mike Martz, Jim Haslett, Dom Capers: All were great coordinators. All had a screw loose as the head coach.
• Norm Chow: He developed great quarterbacks at USC and is doing the same with Vince Young at Tennessee. But some guys are made to be assistants. Chow is 60 years old. Think there’s a reason he’s never been a head coach?
• Mike Singletary (San Francisco), Ron Rivera (Chicago), Cam Cameron (San Diego): All have credentials as assistants. All are Jim Mora, three years ago.
• Kirk Ferentz (Iowa), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma): Neither has shown any inclination to leave his college job.
Blank fired Dan Reeves with three games left in the 2003 season. The reason he didn’t wait until after the season: He wanted to start interviewing candidates and knew that word would leak. So he chose to be up front with Reeves.
Conversely, Blank has yet to say a word to Mora about his future. Is that merely because of a long-shot playoff chance?
Blank can fire Mora, hire any of the aforementioned and likely invest three seasons, hoping it works out. But that’s starting over with a risk that is at least as big as Mora.
Or, Blank can keep Mora one more season. The obvious risk: further franchise decline and fan alienation. The potential upside: The candidate pool next season presumably will get better.
Mora has not handled things well. Saying, “I’m proud of this football team” in the midst of a 7-8 season makes him look dumb. He would be better served to forget about empty statistics and just win a game this week. Because Blank might be looking for a reason to avoid jumping into a shallow pool.
Permalink | Comments (217) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Jeff Schultz
Knight’s milestone belongs in Indiana
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Bloomington, Ind. — To the dismay of those into truth, justice and The Bob Knight Way (like me, for instance, along with anybody in Monroe County who knows a pick from a roll), he’s gone forever as the highly efficient dictator of Indiana University basketball.
What a shame. Courtesy of Knight’s ouster from the Hoosiers six years and many self-inflicted controversies ago, he could do the disgusting as soon as tonightin Lubbock, Texas. That’s where Knight could become the winningest coach ever in men’s hoops, and here’s the disgusting part: He can reach such immortality wearing the red of Texas Tech instead of Indiana.
Let’s pause for a moment of silence. They’ll do so a few miles to the east in Belmont, where Knight often ate breakfast at a bait-and-gas store called Knight’s (no relation) Corner. They’ll do the same a few miles to the west at a doughnut shop (the only doughnut shop) in Bowling Green that Knight used to frequent along the way to Terre Haute. They’ll do so at Janko’s Steakhouse downtown, Knight’s favorite supper spot. They’ll also do so at that other eatery around here that Knight visited more often than them all, a low-key deli inside a supermarket located a couple of fast breaks from Assembly Hall.
For now, consider this: Even Knight’s slew of bashers have to admit that his record 880th victory should have come at the school that he helped make famous and infamous with his habit of throwing things and grabbing the body parts of others between national championships. He was Indiana basketball. He is Indiana basketball, and that will never change. You can tell by how his shadow continues to engulf the five or six tables at the deli.
During the latter part of Knight’s 29 years at Indiana, this was his eternal place for lunching. Between bites on a steak or a piece of fish, he’d study the small television set that hangs nearly as high as the five red banners dangling from the ceiling to represent Indiana’s national championships, and then he’d watch the latest rerun of ESPN’s SportsCenter.
“There weren’t any pictures of Knight in the place, because he was so low-key, I’m not so sure that he would have come in here if there were some,” said Rusty Littell, among those who used to see Knight arrive with a tiny entourage that included one, two or all of his assistant coaches. An hour or so later, Knight would leave, either to perfect his motion offense and man-to-man defense or to throw a chair after punching somebody, depending on whether you view the guy as Gabriel or Lucifer.
Knight’s deli routine ended in 2000 after former Indiana President Myles Brand fired the white-haired ball of energy for violating his zero-tolerance policy.
“I still haven’t gotten over that [firing], and I never will,” said Roy Pope, 67, shaking his head, between sighing over a soft drink near Knight’s old seat in the deli. “Bobby was here in town for [nearly] 30 years, and IU presidents come and go. I resent the fact that somebody [Brand] who is here for just a few years can come and kick an icon out the door. Bobby would have stayed here forever.” After a pause, Pope said, “Not that Bobby wasn’t at fault for getting fired, but I still resent how it was done.”
Kelly Gall nodded nearby. After her 41-year-old eyes danced while joining others in praising Knight and panning Brand who eventually left to become head of the NCAA, the mother of two asked me to wait while she rushed to her car. She returned with an old color picture that was wrinkled and torn. She pointed to a faded person who either was Knight, Phil Donahue or Captain Kangaroo. “Yeah, that’s Bobby Knight, sitting at a banquet, right after they won the [1981] national championship, and I got him to smile,” said Gall, pointing at whatever. “I’ve been carrying this picture of Coach Knight around in my purse for years, and I really don’t know why.”
She knows why.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: Other, Terence Moore
Pro athletes must end silence on steroids
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
The traditions have changed. They don’t hang Christmas lights because that was Taylor’s job. They don’t open presents first thing Christmas morning — they drive 30 minutes to a cemetery. They leave flowers on a gravesite. They hold hands. They say a prayer.
“His favorite drink was Sunkist orange,” Don Hooton said. “I don’t think I’ve ever told anybody this before, but we have a special cup we use and we all drink a little bit of that orange soda. Then we pour the rest out for him.”
There is a pause. Three and a half years later, there are still pauses, tears, confusion. Does it ever stop? The father kneels down every morning. He talks to the son he buried. He has reached the point where he can usually do an interview like this without crying. Doctors tell him, “Time is your best friend.” But it never really gets better.
“You lose a kid who’s 17 years old — it’s incomprehensible,” Hooton said by phone. “Even today, it seems like a dream. People say, ‘I can’t imagine what it’s like.’ And I say, ‘I can’t imagine, either.’ “
Taylor Hooton committed suicide on July 15, 2003. He was a high school student with a 3.8 grade-point average in Plano, Texas. He was going into his senior year. He played baseball. He took steroids. He suffered from depression. Nobody realized to what extent he was depressed until he fashioned a noose with two belts tied together and looped it around a doorknob and over his bedroom door.
Most of us learned of Taylor at last year’s congressional steroid hearings. Amid the cowardice (Mark McGwire), the lies (Rafael Palmeiro), the deceit (Sammy Sosa) and the self-promotion (Jose Canseco) on display before a House Government Reform Committee, it was the testimony of Don Hooton and other grieving parents that stood out. They told stories of their teenaged sons, who, following the examples set by professional athletes, sought to get stronger and faster with performance-enhancing drugs. All the stories ended in tragedy.
Why recount this now? Because there has been too much lip service and too little action. Because while Major League Baseball has pledged $1 million to the Taylor Hooton Foundation to help educate and raise awareness about steroids, the players are still hiding behind their paychecks. Because Don Hooton phoned the NFL and, he said, “They wanted nothing to do with us.”
Because there is a Baseball Hall of Fame ballot sitting on my desk and, for the first time, there is a decision to make about enshrining an athlete who is largely recognized as an artificially ballooned cheater.
Hooton wants to be careful. He believes he and his foundation have been painted as “controversial” and anti-pro athletes. That’s not his intent. Picking on McGwire or Barry Bonds, he knows, doesn’t solve any problems.
But with Hall of Fame ballots due in five days, there is no better time to think of Taylor Hooton and wonder why nobody with a Nike deal will speak up. It’s not about money. It’s about a face and a voice.
Magic Johnson has done wonders to raise awareness about AIDS. Why do so many remain invisible regarding steroids?
Why are so many hiding behind security gates, protecting their legacy?
Experts estimate 5 to 6 percent of all high school students have used performance-enhancing drugs. The NFL continues to suspend players, but the league otherwise has done little to find a solution. Even the Navy football team has been hit by a steroids scandal.
Steroids. In the military.
“It’s just very disappointing,” Hooton said. “Mark McGwire made a contribution to the foundation, which was appreciated. But I wish he would step forward and say something.”
McGwire is the one being picked on most today for a simple reason: He is the one up for Hall of Fame consideration. He refused to answer questions about his past in Washington. He promised to speak out, to help educate youths about the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs. Of course, he hasn’t.
Hooton’s position on enshrinement for steroid users is just as one would expect: Not now. Not ever. His reasoning: Forget whether it was against a sport’s rules — it was against the law. We don’t give honorary economics degrees to bank robbers. We don’t honor felons.
“What bothers me about the Hall of Fame is the message that it sends to kids,” Hooton said. “They think: Sure, steroids are damaging to the body. But Mark McGwire got the big prize. He’s in the Hall of Fame. Look at what society rewards.
“I read something back when the baseball season was opening about a father sitting down with his son over dinner and talking to him about drugs. The next day, they go to a baseball game in San Francisco and the father gives a standing ovation to Barry Bonds. What kind of message does that send?”
The Taylor Hooton Foundation has several impressive partners: MLB, DEA, USADA, Dick Butkus’ “Mean and Clean” campaign. But it needs a face.
“Somebody has to put goodness in front of money,” he said.
A wish for the holidays.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Falcons / NFL, Jeff Schultz
Mora’s team turns soft, unwatchable
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
There will be no firing on Christmas. If Jim Mora wanted a security blanket to wrap himself in, well, there it is. That’s as good as it gets.
Another loss, but he gets another game. Another fizzled season, but he gets another game. Another home finale with a double-shot of protests from season-ticket holders (some show up and boo, some don’t show up at all). But today, we open presents.
“I’m not into announcements,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said when asked if he was considering firing Mora before the team’s final game next week in Philadelphia. “We’re just trying to win a football game.”
At times Sunday, you wondered.
The Falcons lost 10-3 to the Carolina Panthers. They lost to a team that had lost four straight and most recently was dismembered by Pittsburgh, 37-3. They lost to a quarterback (Chris Weinke), who hadn’t won a game since the opening game his rookie year (17 losses and five years ago). They allowed 183 yards rushing to the NFL’s 27th-ranked attack. (The Panthers ran for 88 in the previous two games, but they had 72 yards on their first possession Sunday.)
Time of possession? It read like an Oklahoma-Baylor game: 42 minutes to 18.
Trying to win a football game? You wonder.
If this was a must-win game, how do players trying to save their season and their coach’s job look on a day off? If Jim Mora loses his job next week — and Hanukkah lasts eight nights, not Christmas — it will be because of games like this.
A team loses four straight home games. A team loses must-win games to inferior opponents. A team crumbles in November and December, when NFL identities are cemented.
Arthur Blank does not want to change coaches again. It’s no fun to admit you picked the wrong guy. It’s no fun to start over. It’s no fun to pick a replacement, particularly when you look at the field of candidates and think, “Where’d everybody go?”
But Blank can’t ignore the signs. Two years ago, the Falcons went to the NFC title game in Mora’s first season. But everything that has happened since then screams that year one was an aberration.
The Falcons have become soft. They have become unwatchable. Injuries are not an excuse — they are a test. Look at what Andy Reid has done with the left-for-dead Philadelphia Eagles. Look at what Jeff Fisher has done with Tennessee.
On some teams, players follow their coaches. On some, they just say they do. The Falcons have stopped following Jim Mora. They are soft. They are unwatchable. If Mora is all about passion and fire, why does his team so often lack it? Where’s the edge? Where’s the concern for keeping your job?
Mora admitted that after the team drove to a field goal on its first possession, “There was a period when there wasn’t a lot of energy.”
Does that sound like a team fighting for survival? Does that look like players following their coach?
The Falcons have gone from 11-5 to 8-8 to probably 7-9 (assuming things go as expected in Philadelphia). For all the talk about bad plays, dropped passes, missed blocks, here’s one simple reason why they’ve regressed: They don’t knock anybody down.
Quarterback Michael Vick unwittingly delivered a shot to Mora’s gut in the interview room. “We should be ranked among the elite in this league and we’re not,” he said. “… The talent level is there.”
Which tells you there is either a disconnect between players and coaches, or coaches are making the wrong decisions. They are equally indicting.
The Falcons burned a timeout in the third quarter because they couldn’t get the right players on the field. They also drew a penalty for having too many players on the field. They also lost for the 16th straight time when trailing going into the fourth quarter. So much for coaches winning a game for you.
Blank declined to say much about Mora’s status Sunday, other than today’s news-free plans. But he seemed relaxed, even joking with media members. It was almost like he had no decision to make, or he’s already made it.
“Let’s change the subject,” he said, turning to me. “How do you like the new rabbi?” And in case you’re wondering, Rabbi Greene is working out just fine, thank you. He is safe, well beyond Christmas.
Permalink | Comments (188) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Jeff Schultz
Thrashers have yet to go splat
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
It’s the holidays, and they’re still here. I know. Been there, then collapsed there. But look at this season so far. A four-game losing streak is followed by six wins in seven games. Five losses are followed by three wins.
No splat. December is almost over.
Do I hear January?
“There’s still some mysteries,” Thrashers coach Bob Hartley said Saturday when asked if he is learning something about his team. “Sometimes we’re just like a box of chocolates. You have to take a bite to find out what’s on the inside.”
Skate, Forrest, skate!
Are the leg braces finally off?
The Thrashers dumped the New Jersey Devils 5-2 on Saturday night at Philips Arena. They are now 21-10-6 and rank second overall in the Eastern Conference. They are banking points early and allowing themselves room for error in the second half, which is not exactly a franchise trait (the banking part, not error part).
They are not perfect. They continue to give up too many shots (38 Saturday, though only nine in the third period). They remain just north of pedestrian at center. (Things you thought you’d never see, and shouldn’t ever see: Jason Krog centering Marian Hossa and Slava Kozlov.)
But they’re winning, and they’ve shown the ability to duct-tape closed any potential trap doors. Eight days ago, they lost 6-0 to the New York Islanders to extend a losing streak to five, prompting a players-only meeting.
What has changed since?
“Desperation,” Bobby Holik said.
Whatever works.
We are weeks away from stringing together the words “playoff lock.” But seemingly there is only one thing that could derail this bunch from finally reaching the postseason: a cry for help that isn’t answered. We’ve seen it before.
Thrashers general manager Don Waddell said Saturday he won’t sit on his hands and allow this team to go into a prolonged slump. He’ll make a trade, if necessary.
“I’ll do something,” he said. “That’s why I’m staying so close to the team.”
Words are one thing, actions another. But the pronouncement should at least alleviate some concerns (and carry more weight than, say, a playoff “guarantee.”)
Remember two seasons ago? The team started strong. Then came a dreadful stretch beginning, well, right about now. The Thrashers lost a game Dec. 28 in Ottawa and proceeded to win only two of 21.
Forrest would’ve screamed, “I’ve gotta save Bubba!”
But Waddell didn’t make a significant move. Playoff hopes spontaneously combusted before our eyes. The fact ownership was in flux at the time might have limited what Waddell could do in terms of adding salary, but dealing with such constraints is what a general manager is paid for.
Last year, the Thrashers dealt with the dizzying parade of injured goalies but had rebounded by midseason. Then came a seven-game losing streak in January. It forced a late-season scramble that left the team two points short of the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
The Thrashers have had defensive problems of late. They allowed an average of only 29 shots through 29 games but are yielding more than 36 per in the past eight. Some of that can be attributed to injuries on defense and to center Steve Rucchin. That should improve when defensemen Garnet Exelby and Andy Sutton return.
The bigger issue is at center, where the Thrashers lost Marc Savard before the season. Their four forwards down the middle Saturday were Holik, Krog, Niko Kapanen and Derek MacKenzie (just recalled from the minors). That likely won’t get it done, certainly not in a playoff series, when power plays might be less frequent and even-strength playmaking is more critical.
Waddell admitted: “We don’t have the playmaking guy who can help [Ilya] Kovalchuk score more goals five-on-five.”
If Waddell decides to make a move, he’s in a good position. The Thrashers are about $3.5 million under the $44 million salary cap. Given that salaries are prorated for cap purposes, Waddell estimates he could technically bring in a “$5 million player” on Jan. 1 and an “$11 million player” near the Feb. 27 trading deadline. (Not that he’s committing to that, mind you.)
“If we’re 100 percent healthy, we really like our team,” he said. “We don’t feel compelled that we have to do something.”
But he’s watching. We’re all watching. So far, no splat.
Permalink | Comments (16) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Thrashers / NHL
Once upon a time at Christmas
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Those were days of innocence. In smalltown America, life was without pomp and swagger. The arrival of the Christmas season certified all of this. The center of everything was the church. Those of us still of the growing age followed our parents, and the church is where our parents led us. In our little corner of the world there was only one faith, and it was all clearly set forth in the Bible. We had no idea that in other parts of the world other people worshipped other idols.
It was read to us from the pulpit. We studied it in summer Bible school, whether we understood it or not. We knew of no other faith in the world. Jesus Christ was the son of God, and that is what we were taught, and that is what Christmas was about. No questions. No doubts.
Christmas was a magical season. We began looking forward to it as soon as the calendar was turned to the page of December. There was none of that pre-Thanksgiving Day advertising and commercials in those times. Christmas was given its time, compressed into its own wintry space and anticipated not always for the right reasons, hard as my mother tried. She baked cakes, several kinds, and always one fruitcake, one that had a special ingredient never found in one of those commercial bricks: Love. It was Mama’s cake, and Mama’s fruitcake was baked with love. Oh, what fragrance she created in that kitchen.
There was always the Christmas pageant at the little white church on the hill. We started rehearsals three weeks before the annual Christmas program. We shepherds shivered under our sheets — every year each of us was the same, and I was always a shepherd. (My brother, who was very tall, was always Pontius Pilate, which I thought was unfair. I thought he should have had a chance to be a wise man, or a good guy one time or another. But he was always the wicked Pontius.)
When I say we shivered, I lie not. The heat in our church was supplied by a pot-belly stove, and they never fired it up for rehearsals. Saved wood for the main events. So we shivered, and we giggled, and we shoved, or even punched each other in the ribs. It wasn’t easy being so nice and Christian.
Our reward after the Christmas service was the “treat,” as we called it. A bag with some candy or an apple or orange, if the harvest had been good and the price wasn’t too high. Then the lights were turned low, and we all sang “Silent Night,” which I think is the most beautiful Christmas song of all, and you could feel the warmth flow all through your body.
Then go home and go to bed and toss restlessly, so anxious for the dawn to see what was under our little tree.
We never had a big tree. There was no such thing as a Christmas tree lot then. You went out and cut your own, which was my annual mission. I took the axe and went into the woods behind Alson Cranford’s house and picked out a nice one and toted it home, so I didn’t pick the biggest tree in the forest. Decorations were not extravagant. I’m not even sure we had a string of lights, but it was always beautiful to me.
So on Christmas morning the kids were up by dawn’s early light, except my big brother, who knew all the secrets of Santa Claus. I don’t remember that Mr. Claus ever caused me to break out in goose pimples with anything he left, but I do remember that I never got the bicycle I wanted. My little sister did, and another year she got a terrier, and so it went. Later, by the time my joints creaked, I looked under the tree and there was a bicycle at last. A beauty, with a little bell and all. My wife couldn’t bear the thought of a little boy going through his whole life without finding a bicycle under the Christmas tree.
That’s Christmas for you. If it has lost some of the meaning I was brought up with, it’s no fault of the kind of Christmas we observed at our house, and in our little town. Christmas was the holiest day of every year, once you learned the real meaning, and that it has nothing to do with what you find under the tree on that glorious morning. Merry Christmas to all.
Permalink | Comments (18) | Categories: Furman Bisher
Bad behavior’s the nature of sports beast
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
They’re trying.
Whatever that means.
In other words, no matter how often those who run sports leagues deliver the strongest of rules, fines or suspensions to end thuggish behavior, the knuckleheads will roll their eyes and throw another punch or three. For instance: One moment, Carmelo Anthony is joining drug dealers in a video called “Stop Snitchin.’ ” The next, that same star of the Denver Nuggets is turning fantasy into reality by seeking to become Suge Knight on the court.
Which means all of this madness is just in these knuckleheads. Not from birth, but from the aggressive nature of competition, especially at the highest levels, and from the detrimental contributions of many who have been in their universe.
Don’t take it from me, since my college degree is in economics instead of psychology. Listen to Dr. Patrick Devine, the Braves psychologist throughout the 1980s, who also is in his 27th year as a professor in the psychology department at Kennesaw State University.
“Men are aggressive. There’s no doubt about it, because we have the testosterone and the hormone systems built up to do it, so we don’t need a lot of encouragement to go to that violent level, because it is naturally there within us,” said Devine, before getting to those growing number of knuckleheads. “Is this [athletes becoming more violent in action] something that is inherent in the individual? No. I think that we, as a society as a whole, have allowed things to get this way.”
What things? Well, just this week, NBA commissioner David Stern suspended Anthony long enough to lose $640,097 in salary for his sucker punch during the NBA’s latest brawl. Earlier this season, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told Albert Haynesworth to get lost for an unprecedented five games after he used his 300-something pounds to stomp on the head of an opponent. Even the NHL’s Gary Bettman is trying to do the right thing with knuckleheads, and his sport ranks fighting along the lines of breathing.
Remember Todd Bertuzzi’s thuggish act two years ago against Steve Moore? Not only did Bettman suspend Bertuzzi indefinitely, but the commissioner slapped Vancouver Canucks with a $250,000 fine for “failure to prevent the atmosphere that may have led to [the incident].”
With apologies to soccer moms, their sport isn’t immune, either. Need we go further than the World Cup last summer, when France’s Zinedine Zidane charged and rammed his Italian opponent with his head? Zidane was upset because he said the other guy was saying nasty things about his his sister. Although Zidane later retired, he was suspended three games, fined $6,000 and asked to perform community service by the FIFA folks.
None of these episodes has decreased the knuckleheads. In fact, they’ve increased them in some cases.
“Kids idolize these guys, and those types of behaviors get modeled at very young ages, and it gets into their system as the way to behave,” said Dr. Paul Fair, an Atlanta psychologist in stress and anger management. “People love to see replays of a great move in a football game, for instance. But you also get to see replays of basketball or football players beating up on each other. So guess what? Obviously, the viewers — the fans — like that. If you have a steady diet of that for years, it’s going to eventually affect you.”
Combine that with The Authoritarian Coach becoming a dying breed at all levels, and you really have a mess. Said Dr. Devine, an offensive lineman during the 1970s at John Carroll University, “With a Tom Landry or a Bear Bryant or a Vince Lombardi, there was a sense of discipline and decorum. Today, we’re too afraid to enforce the rules, because we’re afraid we’re going to offend somebody’s individualism. This philosophy has worked its way up from the Pee Wee level to the pros. Now the ketchup has spilled out of the bottle, and we’re not going to be able to get it back in there.”
Not for a generation. Even if we go back to the future right now.
Permalink | Comments (15) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Falcons / NFL, Hawks / NBA, Terence Moore, Thrashers / NHL
Jackets evolve at Bulldogs’ expense
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Early returns had been mixed, but that’s what happens when a team’s two best players are freshmen. Georgia Tech beat Purdue and Memphis, two pretty good squads, but lost to Miami — which just was felled by mighty Binghamton — and Vanderbilt. Six weeks into the season, it was hard to know what to make of the Jackets.
We know somewhat more today. We know Tech has enough skill and enough of a developing mesh to handle a solid Georgia team in a way nobody had. We know also that the Bulldogs, for all their upgrades, still lack the sort of transcendent player Tech has in Thaddeus Young. Admittedly, that isn’t the greatest of sins. There aren’t many Thaddeus Youngs anywhere, not even in the NBA.
Some guys score because they shoot a lot. Young, who had 24 points Friday, scores because scoring is second nature. He has every sort of shot — he opened the game with a dunk and essentially ended it with a 3-pointer inside the final five minutes — and all the moves an 18-year-old could hope to have. Young hasn’t been the focal point of Tech’s offense to date, but he will be come March.
“He’s really good,” said Paul Hewitt, speaking of Young, “but he hasn’t even scratched the surface.”
For Tech, that’s a reason to be cheerful. Here’s another: The Jackets’ prized rookies — Young and point guard Javaris Crittenton — are beginning to grasp what Division I basketball requires. “It’s a big difference,” Young said. “[In high school] it was easy because I was so much bigger than everybody else.”
The trouble with young and gifted players is that they enter college having only a passing acquaintance with defense. The losses to Miami and Vandy smacked the Jackets upside the noggin: If you don’t guard somebody, you can’t win as big as your assets suggest you should. Tech defended for long stretches Friday with a ferocity unseen since the Final Four run of 2004. That’s progress.
True, the Bulldogs were without Sundiata Gaines, their clever point guard, and that diminished them at both ends. Without Gaines to pressure the ball, Tech was free to run its halfcourt sets, and rarely has it run them better than it did this night. The Jackets either scored off backdoor cuts or got fouled — Tech took 15 first-half free throws to Georgia’s four — and the capacity to score easy points ultimately wore the Bulldogs to a frazzle.
Said Young: “We watched them on film and saw they don’t even look at the ball. They look at the man. We expected [the backdoors] to work the first couple of times before they picked up on it, but they never did.”
Georgia, meanwhile, was getting nothing easy. Gaines’ absence forced Mike Mercer, the Bulldogs’ leading scorer, to move from the wing to the point, and Mercer is far better at receiving than distributing. He had a nightmare game — seven turnovers, no baskets — and Georgia was lucky to be within four at halftime. Soon its luck was gone. Tech embarked on an 18-4 run, Young scoring eight of the 18, and that was that.
As encouraging as winning was — “Great for the alums,” Hewitt said — the victory still fell short of being a watershed. The game featured nearly as many turnovers (36) as baskets (42).
Even after Tech had established its superiority, its sloppiness kept the Bulldogs within theoretical reach. A night like this hinted at what the Jackets can do if they apply themselves; at issue is whether they’ll apply themselves as a matter of course.
If they do, they’ll be playing in the NCAA tournament, playing beyond the first weekend, maybe beyond the second. Georgia is likely a Big Dance invitee itself, and Georgia had no answers for Tech’s talent. This was a needed first step for the Jackets, who collectively have only begun to scratch the surface.
Permalink | Comments (49) | Categories: Mark Bradley, Tech / ACC, UGA / SEC
Falcons should target Tech’s Johnson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
It isn’t too early for those among the enlightened in Flowery Branch to begin strategizing on how to do exactly what they must do. That is, when Calvin Johnson declares either now or later that he is ready to transfer his greatness from Georgia Tech to the NFL, the Falcons must do whatever it takes to make sure his football career never leaves Atlanta.
Never.
Never, never, never.
This easygoing kid from Tyrone is a keeper. In other words, the Falcons must pull another Michael Vick. Just as they worked with the San Diego Chargers to acquire that No. 1 pick to select an incomparable quarterback in the draft, the Falcons must finagle a way with the Oakland Raiders, the Detroit Lions or whoever finishes as the league’s worst team during this season or next to get an incomparable wide receiver.
The Falcons must do as much for so many reasons. For starters, they don’t have an incomparable wide receiver.
Should Johnson enter the upcoming draft after his junior season (he said he’ll decide after Tech plays in the Gator Bowl), the Falcons could get that incomparable wide receiver by offering, say, their No. 1 and 2 picks, along with The Great Matt Schaub, to quarterback-impaired Oakland or Detroit. In return, the Falcons would get Johnson’s striking physical gifts (4.4 speed, sure hands, impressive strength, 45-inch vertical jump) and splendid work ethic.
Not only that, given Johnson’s wonderful personality that has remained consistent from his all-everything days in high school through his earning the Fred Biletnikoff Award this season as the nation’s best wide receiver, he is somebody that you’d love to adopt as your son.
Finally, there is this: If Johnson is drafted by the Falcons someday, he wouldn’t exactly cringe. “I’d be ecstatic. You know?” he said, flashing his infectious grin the other day at Tech’s football complex. “It would be overwhelming, just realizing that I could stay here. It would be great to play in your hometown and to have your friends and relatives see you play. I’m sure every player dreams about that, and it’s something that I dream about.”
Get him. Otherwise, the Falcon Nation will have nightmares for letting the ultimate hometown guy get away.
Consider that Johnson wasn’t even interested in football until after his 13th birthday. In fact, if it weren’t for something that happened in 1998 with the Falcons, he might have put all of his considerable energy into Sandy Creek High’s chess club or something. What happened back then were the Dirty Birds. “I just remember everybody trying to do that dance with Jamal Anderson, and that’s when I first thought about getting involved [with football],” Johnson said. “The only thing I remember about the season was that the Falcons went to the Super Bowl and lost to the Denver Broncos.”
That’s in contrast to now, when Johnson remembers everything about a Falcons team that he studies religiously on television. He even fantasizes about catching passes from you know who. “Yeah, it crosses my mind about how it would be to play with Michael Vick. I’m thinking about that while I’m watching the defensive backs and seeing what they’re doing. Hey, [Vick] has a strong arm. He can put it anywhere.”
Johnson has proven that he can catch a pass from everywhere after spending three years with the erratic Reggie Ball. As a result, the Falcons would have a potent duo with Vick and Johnson. “Yeah. I think so,” said Johnson, with that grin again.
At worst, Johnson would become the Falcons’ offensive version of Keith Brooking, the prolific linebacker from Senoia, who played at Tech and has become one of the city’s most civic-minded athletes after spending all nine of his NFL years with the Falcons. At best, Johnson’s future with the Falcons would be bright enough to blind the sun.
Permalink | Comments (161) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Tech / ACC, Terence Moore
A squatting chance for Falcons
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Before delving into this week’s financial locks, the Non-Secular And Occasionally Agnostic Brokerage House of Weekend Predictions — we recognize the existence of losses only when you can find us — wishes you the best this holiday season and attempts to answer a question even more perplexing than, “Dude. What the heck is figgy pudding?”
Namely: What’s up with the squatting birds?
It seems that in Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region, nativity scenes — which generally include the staples: Mary, Joseph, shepherds, I think a baby, some sheep and a Nordstrom saleswoman — also depict a squatting peasant with an exposed hiney. (I am not making this up, so please don’t shoot the Jewish messenger.)
This figurine is known as “El Caganer” or “The Defecator.” And you wonder why Spain isn’t a global power.
This tradition dates back to the 17th century and has something to do with certain bodily functions being associated with fertility.
(Are you still with me? Because if not, you can take a 10-minute Tums break, then come back.)
According to The Associated Press, “During the holiday season, pastry shops around Catalonia sell sweets shaped like feces.”
This really isn’t all that different from several NFL teams, which at this time of season sell playoff hopes secretly shaped like feces.
Which leads us to the Falcons.
If they win Sunday against Carolina and next week at Philadelphia, they’re probably in the playoffs. Also, Generalissimo Francisco Franco wins a karaoke contest on Neptune. Only in the NFC can you still be mathematically alive after so much squatting.
Will it make a difference? Probably not. But we’ll keep your holiday miracle alive for another week: Falcons over Panthers.
A material
• Sybil Bowl: The Saints lost at home to Washington the week after drilling the Cowboys in Dallas. They had surgery Tuesday to remove benign traces of Jim Mora. The Giants are 1-5 since a five-game winning streak. Do six NFC teams have to make the playoffs? Giants cover 3.
• Eagles at Cowboys: Oh, you mean Terrell Owens is full of spit? I thought you said … Where was I? I love the 7 — and the Eagles in an upset.
• Chargers at Seahawks: It was another fine moment for the NFL this week when suspended juiceboy Shawne Merriman was named to the Pro Bowl. Is this sort of like John Dillinger being honored by the Wharton School of Business? Chargers win, but take Seattle and 4.
• Ravens at Steelers: It might be too late. But the Steelers have won five of their last six and allowed only 13 points in the last three. Also, it has been weeks since Ben Roethlisberger lost an organ. Steelers cover 3.
B sides
• Titans at Bills: Tennessee has gone from 2-7 in a rebuilding year to 7-7 with a rookie quarterback and back in the playoff picture. So if you’re Jeff Fisher, how do you feel about the fact the Titans have yet to pick up your option? This won’t help: Buffalo wins, but won’t cover 41/2.
• Patriots at Jaguars: Tom Brady has lost his favorite receiver (Deion Branch), his pickup line (“I’m a Pro Bowler. You gonna finish those fries?”) and his eye candy (Bridget Moynihan). Should take about seven seconds to bounce back. Take the gift 3 and Pats in an upset.
• Bengals at Broncos: Cincinnati denies reports that Carson Palmer has a significant shoulder injury. But it’s progress that a player’s status is in question for something other than sobriety or parole violations. Broncos cover 3.
• Jets at Dolphins: I understand the whole the-NFL-isn’t-what-I-thought-it-would-be thing possibly rolling around Nick Saban’s head. But if he’s actually considering moving from South Beach to Tuscaloosa, he should be playing cards with Cheswick, Martini and McMurphy. Fish cover 2 1/2.
What’s on Bravo?
• Redskins at Rams: Joe Gibbs has determined the ‘Skins are only two players away from competing for the playoffs. Peyton Manning and LaDainian Tomlinson. Rams cover 2.
• Bears at Lions: Is Chicago the first 12-2 team in NFL history with a 2-12 feel? On a related note, the Bengals have sued Tank Johnson for copyright infringement. Feeling frisky. Take Detroit and 4-1/2 — and in an upset.
• Bucs at Browns: Jon Gruden is 26-36 since winning a Super Bowl. Figured Rich McKay needed a good laugh. Browns cover 3.
Profitless margin
(Two straight [barely] winning weeks? Where was this mojo in November?)
• Last week: 8-5 straight up, 7-6 against the line.
• Bottoms up: 94-60 straight up, 71-81-2 ATL.
• Moment of clarity: Maybe Reggie Ball just kept mixing up his textbook with his playbook.
Permalink | Comments (47) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Jeff Schultz
Strange, sad end to Ball’s Tech career
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
His first collegiate home game ended with him being borne aloft in triumph. What should have been his last collegiate game will proceed without him, Reggie Ball having been declared academically ineligible for the Gator Bowl. In the history of college football, has there ever been a stranger career path?
(To address the obvious comparison: Yes, Quincy Carter’s time at Georgia was odd, too. But not this odd.)
Four years ago Reggie Ball became Tech’s starter at a time when nobody considered him a realistic candidate. He was a true freshman and not anything approaching a blue-chip recruit. Yet Chan Gailey saw something in Ball that made him bench incumbent starter A.J. Suggs and re-assign Damarius Bilbo to wide receiver. Sometimes for better and other times for worse, Gailey has had to live with that decision ever since.
Ball had his moments, more than a few. He beat Auburn twice (the first time in that aforementioned home debut). He beat Miami twice. He beat Virginia Tech. He beat Clemson twice (once in a truly spectacular midnight comeback). He took Georgia Tech to an ACC Coastal Division title. He won 29 games as a starting quarterback, as many as the great Joe Hamilton won, but the harsh reality is that almost nobody will remember the good things he did. What will stick in memory are the four losses to Georgia, the ACC title fizzle against Wake Forest, and now this whimper of an exit.
It wasn’t just that Ball seemed to get no better; judging by cold statistics, he was at his worst at the very end. (Somebody obviously did a terrible job coaching him.) He completed 15 of 51 passes, with four interceptions, in his last two games. Some Tech fans were looking forward to the Gator Bowl for no other reason than it would mark the last time they’d have to get mad at their quarterback.
Not many collegians have ever been subjected to this much abuse, both from cackling enemy fans and the supposedly friendly home folks. Not many collegians have ever been as scrutinized by the media. Perhaps not surprisingly, Ball fielded questions reluctantly, if at all. Tech publicists essentially gave up trying to make their quarterback available to the press, a move that did Ball no favors. It’s hard to seem sympathetic if you never tell your side of the story.
And surely there was (and is) something to tell. How does it feel to go from being Chan’s Chosen One to the sum of all Tech frustrations? How does it feel to play so hard — give Ball that much — and generate so little warmth? How does it feel to have presided over four consecutive winning seasons and to be branded a loser?
I can’t say I like Ball, but I was kind of hoping he would have a big game against West Virginia. Nobody, I thought, deserved to close a career the way he’d played against Georgia and Wake. But now he doesn’t even have the Gator Bowl as a finishing act, and that’s nobody’s doing but his. We can blame Gailey and Patrick Nix for not making him a better quarterback, but who else can be faulted for not making his grades?
His first collegiate home game saw him riding on the shoulders of his fellow students. His last collegiate game ended with Reggie Ball brushing past reporters and refusing comment. I wish I could say there’s some greater lesson therein, but I’m not smart enough to find one. I see only a strange story, a sad story, a story of potential unmet and opportunity gone sour.
Permalink | Comments (302) | Categories: Mark Bradley, Quick Hit
Dogs a different breed since last visit to Tech
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Athens — When last Georgia played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, the Bulldogs lost by 38 points and were relieved it wasn’t 50 or 60. Georgia Tech was eight months removed from the NCAA championship game, and Georgia was free-falling to its post-Jim Harrick low.
Two years later, the Bulldogs are rising as fast as they’d plummeted. Georgia will arrive at Tech for Friday’s date having won its past seven games and having toppled No. 16 Gonzaga. What seemed a perfunctory entity a month ago now bears the look of a major test for both programs. The Jackets were ranked in preseason but aren’t today; picked to finish last in the SEC East, the Bulldogs are close to crashing the Top 25.
“Things have changed significantly,” said Sundiata Gaines, the point guard who suffered through that 87-49 thrashing in December 2004. “We’ve got a lot of talented players now.”
Case study: Two years ago, the freshman center Dave Bliss started against Tech and fouled out in four official minutes. (“Less than that, actually,” said Dennis Felton, Georgia’s coach. “It was three-something.”) Today Bliss is Georgia’s 10th man. It isn’t that he has gotten worse — on the contrary, he has improved quite a lot — but that the Bulldogs keep adding.
With Harrick’s holdovers gone and probation setting in, Georgia finished 8-20 two seasons ago. Those Bulldogs averaged just 60.1 points, infamously managing an aggregate 75 in consecutive losses to Vanderbilt and Florida. Today an emboldened Georgia averages 91.8 points, third-most among Division I schools, and is a team transformed.
“We knew [in 2004-05] we had to shorten games just to have a chance,” Felton said. “Last year was the first time we had anything resembling reasonable depth, and we started to run more. That didn’t really work out then [the Bulldogs lost 12 of their last 17 games to finish 15-15], but it helped to make us a better running team now. Today our games are some of the fastest-paced in the country.”
A proud man, Felton is proudest of this: Georgia has bootstrapped itself without cutting a single corner, without even landing a McDonald’s All-American. (Tech has two in its freshman class.) “We’ve made progress without a lucky break,” he said. “There have been no home runs, no magic moments. Louis Williams [who signed with Georgia but entered the NBA draft out of high school] would have been a home run, but he didn’t come here. We’ve done it the old-fashioned way.”
For a time, it was possible to wonder if Felton was too old-fashioned. The attrition rate during his stewardship has been pronounced: Younes Idrissi was ushered out after last season, and Channing Toney, a two-year starter, just departed. Indeed, the Bulldogs might well be undefeated if transfer Takais Brown, the biggest inside presence Felton has had in his four seasons here, had been deployed in the season’s first two games. (Brown was academically eligible by Georgia standards, but not by his coach’s.)
With Brown, who has scored in double figures in every game since being cleared to play, Georgia has struck a balance that Gonzaga, which beat North Carolina last month, conspicuously couldn’t handle. The Bulldogs were already strong on the perimeter: Gaines leads the league in steals and is second in assists; Levi Stukes is a superior shooter, and Mike Mercer, who played alongside the more heralded Williams at South Gwinnett, is strong enough to take any collegiate defender off the dribble.
“Dennis has done a great job letting players mature,” said Cliff Warren, formerly Paul Hewitt’s assistant at Tech. Now Jacksonville’s coach, Warren was speaking after Georgia beat his Dolphins here Tuesday. “He put Levi Stukes and Mike Mercer out there as freshmen and said, ‘Go play.’ They’ve developed their players.”
The next three weeks should be instructive. After Tech, Georgia plays Clemson, Wisconsin and Florida.
The Bulldogs could lose all four — only the Wisconsin game is at home — but surely won’t. (Gaines sprained his ankle Tuesday but isn’t expected to be lost for extended duty.) Two years after not having a prayer against any opponent of consequence, the Bulldogs stand a chance against anybody anywhere.
Permalink | Comments (20) | Categories: Mark Bradley, Tech / ACC, UGA / SEC
Pro Bowl selection process flawed
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
You look at another questionable year of Pro Bowl selections in the NFL, and it is enough to make those who know the difference between a goalpost and a resin bag raise a toast to Bowie Kuhn.
Bowie Kuhn? Yep. The old baseball commissioner got it right.
In 1970, Kuhn decided to return the voting of All-Stars in his game to the fans for a couple of reasons: He knew they could do as well as anybody else, and he knew it was the fans’ game anyway. Sometimes the fans blow a selection or three in baseball’s All-Star voting process, but they generally are omniscient in most years.
The point is, the Pro Bowl selection process has been a beauty pageant among NFL players and coaches. Yes, the fans are involved in the process, but their votes mostly are used to break a tie between the players and the coaches.
Anyway, what we’ve consistently seen through the decades is that NFL players and coaches are often as misinformed, biased or (fill in the blank) as fans supposedly are when it comes to voting.
You can do what we’re about to do with any team in any year. But since this is Atlanta, let’s look at the Falcons.
DeAngelo Hall was just selected to his second consecutive Pro Bowl despite more than a few underwhelming moments. For instance: Remember how Hines Ward toasted what supposedly is the NFL’s fastest man while wearing only one shoe? Not only that, Alge Crumpler was picked for his fourth Pro Bowl despite spending part of this season contributing to the Falcons’ epidemic of dropped passes.
Conversely, there is Michael Vick, the Falcons’ flawed quarterback, who nevertheless has thrown for a career-high 19 touchdowns. He also set the record for most rushing yards during a season for a quarterback. He didn’t make the Pro Bowl after doing so twice.
Keith Brooking didn’t make it, either, and he was shooting for a franchise-record sixth consecutive trip to Hawaii. He isn’t staying home because he isn’t as good as he was in the past at linebacker.
It’s because, well, it’s because the Pro Bowl selection process should make folks shut up about baseball’s All-Star selection process.
Permalink | Comments (40) | Categories: Quick Hit, Terence Moore
Hawks reflect Knight’s failures
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
To see how far the Hawks haven’t come during their journey from self-inflicted implosion to wherever their slew of bosses say this franchise is headed, just study the other guys Wednesday night at Philips Arena.
After doing so, you’re allowed to scream as loudly as you wish.
Those other guys are the Utah Jazz. In 2003, the year before Hawks general manager Billy Knight did the right thing by blowing up the messy roster that he inherited, the Jazz prepared to go from sweet to sour notes on the court after the retirement of John Stockton and the departure of Karl Malone. If you combine those losses to the Jazz’s stated goal of rebuilding, you had their version of Knight ousting the likes of Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Jason Terry, Boris Diaw, Antoine Walker, Rasheed Wallace, Theo Ratliff and Al Harrington.
The thing is, while the Hawks are now closer to the cellar than the penthouse of the Southeast Division with the NBA’s worst overall roster not in Philadelphia, the Jazz are roaring among the elite at 18-7. Not only that, the Jazz have a three-game lead in the Northwest and a future as bright as the Hawks’ is cloudy.
Why the contrast? Well, here are the CliffsNotes: The Jazz get it right more often than not when it comes to drafting, and the Hawks don’t. You also have that gambling thing. The Jazz aren’t afraid to seek the big payoff at the roulette wheel (Mehmet Okur and Carlos Boozer), and Knight prefers the nickel slots (Speedy Claxton and Lorenzen Wright).
To be fair, the Jazz had a shot to build walls and a roof around a solid foundation named Andrei Kirilenko. It’s just that the Jazz also had the guts and the wisdom to add paneling by giving $50 million to Okur and $68 million to Boozer as free agents. Now the three comprise one of the league’s most potent frontcourts.
In contrast, the Hawks don’t have one of the league’s most potent anything. Knight is so obsessed with not overspending on players that only the Charlotte Bobcats have a lower payroll than the Hawks’ $45.6 million. Plus, the Hawks are nearly $8 million under the salary cap, which means they have the money. They just don’t like to spend it.
It shows. Beyond Joe Johnson, the Hawks’ only legitimate star, at least five of their 12 players are marginal by NBA standards. Royal Ivey. Matt Freije. Cedric Bozeman. Esteban Batista. Solomon Jones. The Hawks also haven’t a starting point guard (again). Instead, they use a couple of career backups in Tyronn Lue and Claxton in that role. Josh Smith remains a project, and several of his teammates are constant reminders of what the Hawks should have done in past drafts but didn’t.
For instance: The Hawks made Shelden Williams the fifth pick in this year’s draft, and he has yet to impress. In fact, he has yet to do anything worth mentioning. That’s opposed to Rudy Gay, just named the Rookie of the Month in the Western Conference. He was picked in the draft by the Memphis Grizzlies — you know, right after the Hawks picked Williams.
Then there was the 2004 draft near the start of the Hawks’ rebuilding. They took Josh Childress, which was OK, when they could have selected from among Luol Deng, Al Jefferson and Andre Iguodala, which would have been better.
No, I didn’t forget about 2005. I saved that draft for last. That’s when the Hawks took Marvin Williams instead of Chris Paul, the starting point guard that they still need and the former Wake Forest whiz who eventually was named Rookie of the Year for the New Orleans Hornets. Anyway, the Hawks also skipped over somebody else in that draft. We’re talking about Deron Williams, among the league’s most efficient point guards, and guess who was omniscient enough to get him?
If you mentioned the Jazz, you may scream a little louder.
That said, the Hawks still have a chance to get it right. Come this summer, you’ll have stellar point guards Chauncey Billups and Mike Bibby as free agents. You’ll also have Vince Carter, Darko Milicic, Gerald Wallace and Rashad Lewis, all considerable talents, all available at the right price to turn the Hawks into something in the vicinity of the Jazz. Or at least farther away from resembling the Hawks.
Permalink | Comments (100) | Categories: Hawks / NBA, Terence Moore
Georgia’s ‘Natural’ was plucked off the farm
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Cecil Travis died the other day, a man of the soil, and his story should not be allowed to die with him. If there ever was an actual “Natural,” as created by Bernard Malamud, he was your man.
Cecil was discovered by accident, and the story involved a bulbous character about Atlanta named Tubby Walton. Tubby’s dimensions corresponded to his name, and he was a man of multiple ventures as well. One, he ran a cafe, until he found he was giving away more meals at the back door that he was selling up front. Then he created what he insists was absolutely the first baseball school, which he modestly called “Tubby Walton’s Baseball University,” whose campus was a “skin” diamond and a chicken wire backstop. Tubby also managed a semipro team known as “Tubby Walton’s Firecrackers,” and on the side, was a roving baseball scout, known as a “bird dog” in those times.
“I had this ol’ boy in my university named Leroy Waldrop,” Tubby told me, “from out in Clayton County. Leroy told me one day, ‘Mistuh Walton,’ they’s a boy out in my county that can hit anybody.’
” ‘Ain’t nobody can hit anybody, Leroy,’ I said.
” ‘This boy kin, Mistuh Walton, but he can’t get away. His daddy’s got him plowing.’
“I thought about it — a lot of good ol’ boys come off the farm. So I told Waldrop, ‘Get that boy up to the university by 9 o’clock tomorrow morning, and I’ll put him on scholarship for a spell. Well, lookuh heah, he showed up wearing white duck pants and tennis shoes and an old cap. I tole him to get a bat and let’s look at his swing.
“He picked up the first bat he come to, never looked at the name, if it was Foxx or Simmons or Ruth, like all the fancy hitters did. I had this old boy put there pitching, just got out of prison, and he was mean. He threw the first pitch, and this lean ol’ plowboy hit a line shot to left field, and he kept hitting ‘em, no matter what that old boy threw. Knocked him down, he got up and hit another line drive.
“Well, I decided I’d better drive this boy out to his house and talk to his daddy personally. When we were driving up the hill to his house, I remember he said, ‘Mistuh Walton, see if you can get Pa to let me plow and play baseball, too.’ “
As luck would have it, Tubby just happened to have a baseball contract in his pocket. Cecil’s father was sitting on the porch. He was a school teacher and farmer as well. “I’d never signed anybody before that could read and write,” Tubby said. “Mr. Travis took that contract and started reading it while he rocked, and he never looked up till he finished. I’d never seen anybody read one of them contracts before.
“It sounds like he’d be joining the chain gang,” Cecil’s father said.
“Yeah, but they’ll pay him for his work,” Tubby said. So Mr. Travis signed, Tubby got $300 from the Chattanooga club, and Cecil never got a dime. Never mind, all he wanted to do was hit and get away from that plow.
After Cecil got to Chattanooga, he kept hitting line drives, piling up batting averages of .429, .362, .358. Then Washington called him up to fill in for Ossie Bluege, the third baseman who was injured. In his first game, Cecil got five straight hits. When he came back to the Senators to stay, he strung together a series of well over .300 averages until 1941, when he struck gold. While Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams were stealing all the headlines, Cecil was making all the hits, 218 of them, leading the league. Then, his most promising seasons ahead of him, four of them, were spent in the World War II infantry. And when he returned from the battlefront in Europe, the magic was gone. Nothing came “natural” any more. After he retired from the field, he scouted for the Senators for several years, but sad to say, he never came up with a matching “natural.”
Say this, he still retired with one of the more remarkable statistics in the book: In 4,914 times at bat in the American League, Cecil Travis struck out only 291 times.
Permalink | Comments (17) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Furman Bisher
The Tuesday Countdown
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
10: Deion Sanders brokered the peace process between Terrell Owens and DeAngelo Hall. He hopes to work his way up to Israel and Hamas.
9: Deion Sanders (along with Marshall Faulk), by the way, pretty much accused Michael Vick of quitting on the Falcons when he left the Dallas game with a minute remaining down by two scores after suffering a groin strain. This after Vick threw four touchdown passes to keep his team in the game. Thought you’d be interested in that insight.
8: Deion Sanders - peace broker? Is this the same guy who got into a slap fight with Andre Rison during pass coverage, then raised his hands in mock victory? Is this the same guy who went through his athletic career with an it’s-all-about-me attitude. So far as I know, he never spit on anybody, but some of his actions screamed as much. And he’s teaching others about class?
7: Something is wrong when Joe Johnson is sixth in the NBA in scoring and he’s only ninth among Eastern Conference guards in All-Star voting.
6: If you’re a Knicks fan, are you upset if David Stern decides to suspend Isiah Thomas? Or do you just change the locks while he’s gone?
5: Whether you agree or disagree with the fines and suspensions levied by Stern, he is acting the way a commissioner is supposed to act. As opposed, to say, the muppet running baseball.
4: Tom Brady apparently has broken up with Bridget Moynihan. I know this because I went to ESPN.com, looking for hockey scores. This apparently is considered such a big deal that ESPN.com’s page 2 is running a poll on who should be Tom’s next girlfriend. I voted for Dan Patrick.
3: I lived in the Bay Area and covered Stanford for two years. Academic-roadblocks notwithstanding, it should be one of the best jobs in the country. But if you believed Greg Knapp was a bad candidate, how about the guy Stanford ended up hiring: Jim Harbaugh. He has never coached or recruited at the 1-A level (he has been coaching at 1-AA University of San Diego) and last year had a DUI arrest. Congrats Jim. Now go Beat USC.
2: Ten bucks says somebody turns down the Alabama job to take the San Diego job.
1: Got an e-mail Monday asking me to participate in a conference call today to learn about “one of the most significant announcements in Arena Football League history.” Can somebody monitor it for me?
Permalink | Comments (35) | Categories: Jeff Schultz
Blank, McKay share in blame for Falcons
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
If you open the Falcons’ media guide, you will get to page 42 before coming to the section on Jim Mora, passing, among others, the owner and the general manager. It seemed like a good time to point that out, given that there’s only one guy being pushed to the edge of the plank these days.
The owner (Arthur Blank) hired the general manager (Rich McKay). They supplied the players. They hired the coach. They defined his job description. They set the boundaries. They wanted a “consensus” guy — and the last time I checked, never has that been an adjective used to define “the best football coach.”
The Falcons today are smack on the corner of Humbled and Mediocre. I’m sorry. But whose fault is that again?
This is not to absolve Jim Mora of all blame. Injuries, personnel deficiencies and dropped passes notwithstanding, the Falcons should be better than 7-7. They are not a team that should lose four straight, or to Detroit and Cleveland in consecutive weeks. They are not a team that should struggle so often in the red zone or make opposing pedestrian quarterbacks look so intimidating. And for all of Mora’s post-loss praises about his team’s passion and effort, I can’t remember the last time I heard him admit, “We got outcoached.”
But the missteps have not been exclusive to Mora. Look north of him, starting with the first bio in the media guide.
In many ways, if not most ways, Blank is what any sports owner should be. He is a fan of the team. He is passionate. He wants to win and will back up that want with cash (or credit). But Blank also is as high profile as any owner in sports, and that has its downside.
This isn’t merely about him going down to the sideline for the last few minutes of a game. It’s about everything else in that deep pool: roaming the practice field, talking to players, meeting with coaches, sitting in the draft room. He’s omnipresent.
The problem comes when an owner is such a dominant figure that he diminishes the stature of the person who basically runs the football team. That’s usually the coach, sometimes the GM, but rarely the owner. Jerry Jones was dwarfed on the field by Jimmy Johnson, Jack Kent Cooke by Joe Gibbs, Eddie DeBartolo Jr. by Bill Walsh.
Nobody has ever dwarfed Al Davis. Seen the Raiders lately?
You might ask: What does this have to do with Mora? Everything. When Blank and McKay (perhaps feeling a bit scorched by Jon Gruden in Tampa Bay) set out to find a replacement for Dan Reeves, they didn’t want a dominant personality. The word consensus was used a lot. Blank wanted to have a significant voice, and he bought that right.
The risk in hiring Mora was no more significant than hiring any assistant coach without head coaching experience — except for one. Blank and McKay settled on him in part because Greg Knapp would come with him. Otherwise, it’s debatable whether Mora would have gotten the job. Once again: What happened to just hiring the best head coach?
If Mora gets fired, the current structure will figure into any coaching search. The best candidate often wants power. But McKay holds the only power that exists beyond Blank.
Mora is coaching what McKay has given him. That should be enough to contend for the playoffs, but this roster is not without shortcomings. The receiver issues have been debated ad nauseam. The offensive line can’t pass protect, or run block in the red zone. Alex Gibbs’ blueprint has not blended with the offense.
In terms of big-name free agents and trade acquisitions, McKay has had hits (Rod Coleman and Lawyer Milloy). He has whiffed too often. John Abraham had a history of injuries. Ed Hartwell suddenly can’t stay healthy. Jason Webster, Chris Crocker and Wayne Gandy -– all mediocre.
Rookie cornerback Jimmy Williams has been a bust. The Falcons are so weak at the position that Allen Rossum has started seven straight games. He started three in the previous eight years. Depth should never be that much of an issue.
There are two games left. Mora is the only one on the plank. But before assuming his plunge will fix all the problems, it’s worth remembering: This is whom Blank and McKay wanted. Maybe it’s time to change the criteria.
Permalink | Comments (78) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Jeff Schultz
Sooner rather than later for Mora’s exit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
The question isn’t whether Jim Mora’s regime is outta here with the Falcons after three seasons (if it lasts that long). The question is when will owner Arthur Blank do the inevitable and begin taking résumés for a new head coach.
In case you’re wondering, here’s the answer to the “when” question: Sooner than later, especially after the combination of Mora’s joke that wasn’t involving his campaigning for the University of Washington job and the horror of Saturday night at the Georgia Dome for those who care about this suddenly reeling franchise.
Before we get to the horror, let’s start with the big picture involving the Falcons’ 38-28 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, and the big picture is “Gone With the Wind,” as in how you would describe the Falcons’ playoff chances right now. At 7-7, and with I-85 rival Carolina next for the Falcons followed by a trip to likely frigid Philadelphia to face the highly competitive Eagles, Mora’s Falcons are on the verge of an underwhelming finish for the second consecutive season.
Not good. Not if you’re Mora, and if you wish to keep your job with the Falcons, which is doubtful anyway. I mean, did he really tell those Seattle radio folks on Thursday (jokingly, of course) before the Falcons’ biggest game of the season that he would even leave in the middle of the playoffs for the Washington Huskies job? Yep, and between apologies during his subsequent news conference, Mora even admitted that after he listened to the interview again that he sounded sincere. That’s because he was sincere, which makes you wonder if he has seen or heard something involving the Falcons’ ownership, management or both that he doesn’t like.
Why else would Mora do the unprecedented? Dan Devine and Steve Spurrier went from NFL head coaching jobs to the college ranks, but they didn’t announce their intentions during those respective seasons. Not only that, Devine and Spurrier came to the pros after serving as college head coaches. This was Mora’s first head coaching job of any kind. So we’re talking about a double oddity for Mora. Then again, he has been involved in several oddities with the Falcons.
That cellphone controversy last season during the Tampa game. Headphonegate, when Mora hurled the things in anger after he didn’t like a question during the Falcons postgame radio show and nearly significantly bruised somebody. His wild swing in the direction of a referee after questioning a call. Equating the glib ability of former Falcons great Mike Kenn and Jeff Van Note with losing.
Those oddities affected the Falcons as a franchise off the field. As for on the field, we’re back to the horror. Which was: Mora and his offensive lieutenants doing the unconscionable against Dallas by putting their starting quarterback at tailback. It doesn’t matter that Michael Vick just set the NFL record for must rushing yards in a season at quarterback, or that he is a unique talent courtesy of his magical legs, or that The Great Matt Schaub is considered a wonderful backup who never gets to play, or blah, blah, blah.
You just don’t put your starting quarterback at running back.
Period.
Why? Well, because your starting quarterback could suffer, oh, say, a groin injury. You know, similar to the one that Vick suffered in the second half against Dallas in the midst of the Falcons employing a slew of gimmicks you might find in a college playbook. Like Stanford, for instance, where beleaguered offensive coordinator Greg Knapp supposedly is up for the vacant head coaching job. Or like Washington, where the Huskies already have Tyrone Willingham as head coach, but where Mora told that Seattle radio station (jokingly, of course) of his alma mater that “if that job’s open, you’ll find me at the friggin’ head of the line with my résumé in my hand ready to take that job.”
Looks like Knapp and Mora already are auditioning for their next stops at the Falcons’ expense.
Permalink | Comments (310) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Terence Moore
Falcons are a mess
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
What a mess! You’ve got a team of Falcons drawing a bead on a place in the playoffs, biggest game of the season coming up, and the coach says on an interview with a Seattle broadcaster that he’d jump ship in a split second to coach his old college team. I know, you’ve read all that, but I’m not sure you were making notes. Surely, Jim Mora must have known that the Pony Express has been bypassed by radio. News travels fast nowadays.
I know, the power was off in most of Seattle because of a furious storm, but that doesn’t mean Atlanta was in the dark. (“This is the job I want,” speaking of University of Washington. “You would leave the Falcons for that job?” Reply: “I don’t care if we’re in the middle of playoffs, I’m packing my stuff and coming back to Seattle.” Radio guy: “You would leave the Falcons for that job?” Mora: “Absolutely.”)
There’s a rather positive ring to that, I’d say. You can’t drop a bomb and stop it in mid-flight. You can’t say “if I was in the middle of playoffs” and say, “Aw, shucks, can’t you take a joke?”
There’s a little bit of sophomore in Jim Mora. The boyish grin, the twinkle in the eyes, the overload of self-confidence, but how could that self-confidence have led him to think he could take off in a such a flight of fancy and expect to get away with it. Kidding around? Two days before he had to look across the line at the Dallas Cowboys, with a place in the NFL playoffs on the line. What could his players think? What’s with this guy, who’d rather coach the Washington Huskies than us?
Most of all, what could his boss be thinking? Arthur Blank took it calmly. No furious outburst, not as if Joe Torre had been sending an unofficial message to George Steinbrenner. The Falcons owner simply said something about “inappropriate remarks,” and let it go at that, but beneath that stylish haberdashery the blood pressure had to be on a rise. Look, Blank had just extended Mora’s contract through the season of 2009. How’s this for appreciation?
As for the team, the Falcons played as if they had never read the papers or heard the news. They gave away an early lead, got a lead of their own, then lost it again when Tony Romo — not a place for ribs – found out he could pick up yards any time Allen Rossum was on the field, and the Cowboys quietened the Georgia Dome throng. And I’ll tell you this, there was a lot of Cowboys blue among that throng.
Some of the best leaders you’ll ever know couldn’t work long division. One great major league manager never got beyond the 7th grade in school. But he wasn’t dumb. This was dumb, just before the most vital game of the season. I would say this, without any knowledge or personal interest, that what Jim Mora did was talk himself out of town. Tough for me to expect the owner of a team to read such a transcript and tell its author that he wants him around three more seasons. No reason to expect a change now, but I’d guess Arthur Blank’s talent scouts are getting busy going over their private list and checking it twice.
Show you how things work out, the best the Cowboys could take back home with them in the way of clubhouse friction was merely another chapter in the turmoiled presence of Terrell Owens. “The Spit” it was titled on a Dallas broadcast. “After winning a big game like this, all you’re going to get when you get home to Texas is “The Spit,” one commentator said.
What happened — and I don’t know how we missed this during the game — is that Owens told his teammates he had spit in the face of D’Angelo Hall. Confessed in the locker room. The two had been sparring throughout the game. Hall had boasted that he would take Owens prisoner; instead Owens burned Hall with five catches, two for touchdowns. Yet, Owens did the spitting, which would get him a fine in the subway, but not in the NFL. You know, boys will be boys.
Permalink | Comments (55) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Furman Bisher
Blame this loss on coaching
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
And here we thought the run-up — rumors of Michael Vick playing running back, Jim Mora having to apologize for identifying his Dream Job as one other than his current (if tenuous) position — was weird. Who knew the game itself would be crazier still?
Who knew T.O. would roast D-Hall so roundly? Who knew the running back of a quarterback would throw three touchdown passes — five if you count two overruled by penalty, six if you count the one he threw to the other team — in a half? Who knew this careening version of Saturday Night live would trump anything “Saturday Night Live” has aired since Bill Murray was playing Nick the Lounge Singer?
And who knew the Falcons, having done their usual thing of falling behind 14-nil at home, would rouse themselves, as opposed to quitting on the season and letting Mora pursue other vocational opportunities, and author their finest 15 minutes of 2006? And then, after all that good work, who knew they’d turn a seven-point lead into a crushing 10-point loss?
Their effort cannot be faulted. The Falcons played as hard as they’ve ever played, and for those parts of two quarters they looked like the team Arthur Blank and Rich McKay envisioned when they made all their offseason hires. Vick threw the ball beautifully, and Roddy White and Michael Jenkins — stop the presses! — caught it the way first-round receivers should. The defense clearly rattled Touchdown Tony Romo in that wild first half, and for the longest time it seemed the hand of Rod — Coleman, the fearsome defensive tackle — had actually saved Jimbo’s job.
With the Falcons down 14-0 in the second quarter and the Cowboys positioned to throw a hammerlock on the game, Coleman bore in on Romo and swatted a pass upward, thereby turning a bullet into a balloon. Michael Boley took the gift interception to the Dallas 12, and over the next 15 minutes the Falcons would outscore the high-profile visitors 28-7. But there, for reasons unknown, the excellence stopped. The Falcons had taken a grip on a slippery game, and then it was gone. And maybe a season, and maybe even a head coach, with it.
If you’re looking for the story of 2006 (to date, anyway), it can be found in those moments after the Falcons seized the lead. Dallas scored on three of its next four possessions. The Falcons went three-and-out, then failed on fourth-and-1 from the Dallas 37 when Vick’s rollout pass — another of those strange Greg Knapp-ian calls we’ve all come to know and bemoan — to Ashley Lelie was thwarted by Anthony Henry. Then a five-and-out, and that was that. A mighty opportunity had been lost because, for all their skill and all their will, the Falcons still cannot close out games against a big-time opponent.
Some of that has to do with playing, sure, but more of it has to do with coaching. Contrast the Falcons’ inefficiency at the end after doing so much right in the preceding minutes. Contrast the way the Cowboys allowed Romo to work his way back into the game — throwing to his tight ends, hitting quick outs — with the way the Falcons asked Vick to make more difficult throws. Dallas doesn’t have any more talent than the Falcons do, but Dallas is coached by Bill Parcells.
Afterward a conspicuously subdued Mora praised his men, saying, “We fought hard – I’m proud of the effort and determination.” Were this high school football, that would be enough to satisfy a constituency. But this is the NFL, where there are no moral victories, where players and coaches are paid to win, where the Falcons are 9-13 since the midpoint of last season.
They might still make the playoffs, but a team that cannot win such a pressurized December game at home isn’t apt to linger long in the postseason even if it lands there. Blank said over the summer – and reiterated last month — that anything short of a playoff berth is tantamount to failure. Jim Mora might soon be free to apply for all the jobs he wants.
Permalink | Comments (227) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Mark Bradley
Another misstep for Mora
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
If Jim Mora loses his job with the Falcons, it most likely will be because of wins and losses. Problem is, when you work for such an image-conscious owner and in the most fickle of sports towns, random acts of dumbness tend to shrink a guy’s margin for error.
However much wiggle room Mora had as head coach on Thursday, it became significantly less on Friday. If you’re looking for his adjusted margin, you’ll need a magnifying glass.
Two years ago, Mora was viewed as a bright young coach. He was fiery but engaging. Now, there’s all this baggage. The latest misstep came Thursday. He did a radio interview in Seattle with his friend, Hugh Millen. Near the end, he was asked about his potential interest in coaching the University of Washington. Mora didn’t hide his affection for alma mater. (School officials openly showed interest in him two years ago when the position was vacant.)
After a string of questions, Millen said, “You would leave the Falcons for that job?”
Mora responded: “Absolutely.”
There was no laughing, before the question or after the answer. It looked bad on a transcript. It sounded worse on the radio.
Now, whether Mora was joking, how high does this rank on the stupidity scale?
If you’re Arthur Blank, what are you thinking? If you’re Jim Mora, are you thinking?
The season is hanging by a thread. The Falcons have won two straight but otherwise have lost 12 of their past 21. They might miss the playoffs again. Blank might want to dump half the assistants. Or possibly the head coach. Is this really the best time to goof on the radio about another job?
I’m assuming the coach on the opposite sideline tonight, Bill Parcells, would not have done this. Neither would Bill Belichick. Nor Mike Shanahan, Lovie Smith, Tony Dungy, Jeff Fisher, Andy Reid, John Fox, Tom Coughlin, Joe Gibbs, et al.
Coaches are no different than athletes. Win, and it’s amazing what people will overlook. Lose and it all depends on the depth of the resume. Mora reached the NFC championship in his first season. That’s it. Short resume.
The Falcons didn’t need another fire. Mora didn’t need another fire. There has been too much brush burned between games already. Mora’s father labeled Michael Vick a “coach killer.” You didn’t have to be a deranged conspiracy theorist to wonder if dad’s comments stemmed from a conversation with his son. (Some unsolicited advice to the Moras: avoid radio interviews.)
There also was the sideline cellphone incident last season. The interview pyrotechnics. The verbal backhand at great past Falcons linemen like Jeff Van Note and Mike Kenn, who actually were allowed to speak to the media.
Win, few care. Lose, well, here we are.
Look around tonight. You’ll find a lot of Dallas fans in the Georgia Dome. Falcons games are sold out. So who sold them the tickets?
It’s December. It’s a playoff race. But this city has ceased being consumed by the Falcons. This is Atlanta. The only task more difficult than exciting and growing a fan base is exciting and keeping a fan base. Ask the Braves.
This isn’t four years ago, when Vick won a playoff game in Green Bay and was viewed as some spectacular cross between deity and blowtorch. This isn’t two years ago when the Falcons came within one win of the Super Bowl. Tonight, they’re just a 7-6 team, blending back into the landscape.
The Falcons need to win tonight, not just to save their season but to save their status. They need to win because it’s not expected. They need to win because fans are pulling hamstrings jumping off the bandwagon. (Consecutive wins over Washington and Tampa Bay, with a combined record of 7-19, isn’t going to ignite much beyond a “Yippee.”)
Blank is demanding, and for two obvious reasons: 1) He wants to win, as evidenced by his passion and the number of times he has fished into his own pocket; 2) He knows turnstiles in this town spin both directions. He is a salesman, always pitching, listening, cajoling. The man refers to fans as “stakeholders.”
Georgia football always draws here. Everything else draws for five minutes. It’s not a market you want to test. You either win or you blow people’s socks off trying.
Looking pedestrian on the field and starting fires off it won’t do much for longevity.
Permalink | Comments (101) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Jeff Schultz
Hunt an everyman tycoon, AFL pioneer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Editor’s note: Lamar Hunt, 74, died Wednesday night in a Dallas hospital after a long bout with prostate cancer.
Let me say this for openers: If there had been no Lamar Hunt, there would have been no American Football League; if there had been no American Football League, there would be no National Football League as we know it today; and if there had been no AFL and NFL, there would have been no Super Bowl, which might be America’s most stupendous sports event.
So we’ll start with that. That’s pretty strong stuff to say about a 26-year-old Texan who belied all the Texas stereotypes, broad-shouldered John Waynes with a strut and a swagger. Lamar Hunt wore glasses and looked like the class valedictorian. He had played football — about 20 minutes as a reserve end at SMU. He was the son of a billionaire, H.L. Hunt of oil; and the brother of a swaggerer who once cornered the silver market. The brothers were as different as a Brooks Bros. suit and a pair of overalls.
He neither smoked nor drank, and I’ve read that if he had one addiction, it was ice cream, and more ice cream. It surely wasn’t self-embellishment. He was probably the only owner of an NFL team who got his shoes half-soled. Hank Stram, who was his first choice in coaches, once swore that Lamar owned only one pair of shoes.
“Well, you can only wear one pair at a time,” it was said that he said. He once went to an owners meeting with one shoe half-soled, a hole in the other. The cobbler told him he didn’t have time to do two.
With a group of guys in Dallas for something, I was invited to his home one evening. We had finished our nourishment, and being well-mannered, began looking for the washing machine in which to deposit our plates. There was none.
“We don’t have a dish-washer,” his wife said. She was Norma, his second and his last, a patient soul. He drove cars that looked as if they had survived a demolition derby. Once, when Stram was dispatched to a parking lot to pick up the Hunt car for a trip to the airport, he was expecting something like a Mercedes or Cadillac.
“The attendant drove up in a four-year-old Oldsmobile that looked as if it had been run through a minefield,” Stram says in his book. “It was dirty, rusted and had a big hole in the front seat. ‘No, no,’ I told the guy, ‘I want Mr. Hunt’s car.’
“This is Mr. Hunt’s car,” the attendant said. “I’ve been trying to buy it for a month, offered his $600. He wants $800.”
Well, enough of that. Yes, Lamar Hunt lived frugally. It was simply his way of life, but it detracted none from his kind of person. I don’t care if you were some secretary of state or sports writer from Dubuque, he greeted you with the same kind of cordiality. It was a testimonial to him that he was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton without any crossfire in 1972. And there was overwhelming sporting evidence.
He wanted to have a professional football team in Dallas, but first, he had to have a league. He had tried to break in as part owner of two NFL franchises, but the parts he could have had didn’t include a vote. Finally, after doing a tour and drumming up seven potential owners, it came down to Atlanta or Oakland to complete a full hand. Oakland had no place to play, and all Atlanta could offer was an improvised Ponce de Leon Park, with under-funded ownership.
So with Oakland in hand, the AFL set out, like a leaking ship. It is amazing that it not only survived, but thrived. Hunt himself had to move his franchise to Kansas City. Dueling with the Cowboys in Dallas was too much. For a man who viewed spending money as offensive, to have stayed with it is puzzling. And later he did say, as Joe McGuff, the Kansas City sports editor, records in his book, “Winning It All,” “had he been aware of the costs involved in starting a new league, he would never have undertaken it.”
Most historians lavish Super Bowl III with drooling ingratiation, but it was the fourth that vindicated Lamar Hunt and his crusade. The Chiefs had been crushed by Green Bay in the first championship game, but in chilling New Orleans weather, they did a job on the Vikings. Not only was the upstart AFL firmly established, but Lamar Hunt’s search for happiness in pro football was achieved. By this time, the game’s name was established, and once again the trigger man was Hunt. One of his children played with a funny bouncing toy called “Super Ball.” Ah, “Super Bowl.” The name came to Hunt in a flash, and thus the name of an American classic. Or, so the story goes.
Thus, we say farewell to “the man who brought about the greatest upheaval professional sports had ever known in this country,” Joe McGuff wrote many years in advance of his passing.
Permalink | Comments (6) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Furman Bisher
Weekend predictions: Lousy strategy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Before getting to potentially the dumbest strategic maneuver in the history of professional sports, and also the Falcons, here’s something you might have missed:
In a brilliant move by aquarium officials in China, a 7-foot-9 man with 41.7-inch arms saved two dolphins by pulling pieces of plastic out of their stomachs. Bao Xishun, officially the world’s tallest man, was contacted after veterinarians were unable to remove the plastic with, I guess, short arms and forceps.
It was such an impressive display of natural ability by the herdsman that sources say he was contacted by the Hawks about playing center. But Xishun rejected an offer, telling Billy Knight something in Chinese that translated roughly to, “With Speedy Claxton as my point guard? You are a funny man. Now go away.”
This week, the Falcons meet the Dallas Cowboys. They have let it leak that they are open to using Michael Vick as a running back and Matt Schaub as the quarterback. The fact they let it leak sort of makes you wonder about this plot’s veracity. But let’s go with it. It’s a playoff run.
As the philosopher, Otter, said to fratmates, “I think this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part.” (Bluto’s retort: “And we’re just the guys to do it.”)
Question: What ever happened to just trying to knock guys on their rump roasts?
Another gimmick. Great. It would be smarter having Xishun run a fade route.
Schaub to Vick? I see three possibilities:
1) Somebody gets maimed.
2) Somebody scores a touchdown, which means more screams for Schaub by the redneck quotient (excuse me: Appalachian Americans).
3) Incomplete pass. I see this as the best-case scenario.
Sorry, but I’m just not feeling that bandwagon yet. Cowboys cover 3.
College-free NFL 12-pack
• Eagles at Giants: Thirty-six-year-old Jeff Garcia has eight touchdowns with no interceptions and two sacks in four starts since replacing Donovan McNabb — which shouldn’t suggest Eli Manning will make it out of the parking lot if New York loses this game. Giants win a close one. (Take the geezer and 5 1/2.)
• Bengals at Colts: Deltha O’Neal, the eighth Cincinnati player arrested this season, pleaded not guilty to drunk driving charges, despite having a .10 blood-alcohol level, exceeding the Ohio limit of .08. Turns out the Bengals aren’t just delinquents, they stink in math. On a related note, ESPN submitted the “Playmakers” boxset to the Pulitzer committee. Colts cover 3.
• Dolphins at Bills: Miami has won five of its past six. And for his next trick, Nick Saban is going to teach Mal Moore to bark like a dog. Take the Fins and the gift point.
• Jets at Vikings: I hate to interrupt this Falcons playoff-run euphoria. But if the Vikes win this game, they’re 7-7 with schlock remaining (Packers, Rams). Welcome to the NFC: Dawn of the Dead. Vikes cover 3.
• Steelers at Panthers: Chris Weinke. Sorry. Did you expect more analysis? Steelers win.
• Redskins at Saints: New Orleans will level off eventually. I just never thought eventually would be February. Another win, another cover (9 1/2).
• Jaguars at Titans: Tennessee has won six of eight with Vince Young at quarterback. Is it too early for a 2007 forecast? But a little reality check: Jax wins but won’t cover 3 1/2.
• Broncos at Cardinals: Jay Cutler has been sacked seven times in two games. Used to be, things got better for a quarterback when he left Vanderbilt. But Broncos cover 2 1/2.
• Chiefs at Chargers: LaDainian Tomlinson has scored more touchdowns (29) than 17 teams, and as many or more than 21 offenses. Also, he has overcome Marty Schottenheimer. The 8 1/2 is covered.
• Browns at Ravens: Since allowing 13 points to the Falcons, the Browns have given up 24, 30, 28 and 27. Not sure if Greg Knapp wants that on his Stanford résumé. Ravens cover 11.
• Rams at Raiders: St. Louis linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa has two broken hands. Might be a good pickup at receiver for the Falcons. Take the Rams and 2 1/2.
• Bucs at Bears: I realize Bruce Gradkowski’s self-esteem already is pretty low, but this is the only game all season in which the Bears will have the edge at QB. The 13 1/2 is covered.
Profitless margin
• Last week: 6-7 straight up (don’t ask); 7-6 against the line.
• Bottoms up: 86-55 straight up, 64-75-2 ATL.
• Coming soon: My friend, the end.
Permalink | Comments (42) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Jeff Schultz
Braves execs turn into Ebenezer Scrooge
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Let’s get this out of the way: Those who run the Braves were absolutely right in the moves they didn’t make regarding a cherished left-hander and an energetic second baseman.
Yes, Tom Glavine was key to the early part of the Braves’ unprecedented run of 14 consecutive division titles. The future Hall of Famer also remains a prominent local citizen. It’s just that he is 40 with various aches and pains. Nostalgia doesn’t help you win championships right now.
As for Marcus Giles, he was a popular and effective player throughout his stay with the Braves, but he nevertheless has digressed since his All-Star season.
That was three years ago.
Still, something doesn’t make sense here. I mean, you’ve got Bud Selig saying loudly and boldly that baseball’s overall revenue last season was $5.2 billion. That’s more than quadruple the take during his first year as commissioner in 1992. That’s why teams are spending like crazy. That’s also why inquiring minds need to ask the following of Braves executives: What are you guys talking about?
“We just don’t need to make those kinds of investments that may not pay off,” said Terry McGuirk, the Braves’ straight-shooting president, expressing faith in a returning nucleus that includes the incomparable Bobby Cox managing the likes of Chipper and Andruw Jones, Jeff Francoeur and a healthy Mike Hampton to complement what should be a potent starting rotation and an improved bullpen. Added McGuirk, “We’ve got investments that are very solid that will pay off.”
That’s fine. It’s just that the Braves’ hierarchy keeps citing budgetary constraints as to why Giles is gone, Glavine remains gone, and Andruw Jones is going, going and virtually gone as a free agent after next season. Budgetary constraints? While other baseball executives are becoming Santa Claus during this holiday season, those who run the Braves are doing a wonderful impression of Ebenezer Scrooge.
If you didn’t know better, you’d think somebody changed the combination on the Braves’ vault — you know, pending the sale from Time Warner to Liberty Media. So how much is that pending sale affecting the Braves’ personnel decisions? “None whatsoever,” said McGuirk, a holdover from the days of Ted Turner, when the term “budgetary constraints” wasn’t part of the franchise’s vocabulary.
Added McGuirk, “Basically the team is pretty much set for 2007, based upon our best judgment as to the balance between payroll and economic sanity. We’re probably spending a little more next year than we did last year. There’s no intention of spending less. None.”
Yeah, but look around. The supposedly gasping Kansas City Royals gave $55 million to Gil Meche, a right-handed pitcher with a record not worth mentioning. Lefty Ted Lilly has a record that is even less worth mentioning, and he got $40 million from the Chicago Cubs. Speaking of the Cubs, they’ve spent $264 million on five free agents. Oh, and after paying $51.1 million just to negotiate with Japanese pitching star Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Boston Red Sox shelled out another $52 million to seal the deal.
On and on we could go, but when it comes to the Braves during baseball’s latest era of free spending, they’ve said, “Bah, humbug” more often than not. They refused to go back to the future with Glavine because they said they couldn’t maneuver their budget of around $80 million to accommodate their former ace who returned to the New York Mets. They said goodbye to Giles by not offering him a contract in the likely neighborhood of $5 million.
As for the near future, Andruw Jones will command an un-Braves-like salary as a free agent after a likely 10th Gold Glove and the continuation as one of the most prolific sluggers ever at barely 30-something. The Braves did strengthen their raggedy bullpen with a trade for impressive reliever Rafael Soriano.
That’s about it.
All that inquiring minds are saying is that the Braves should loosen their purse strings a lot more (well, period) for an accomplished leadoff hitter, another reliever and maybe more bench help.
Just to make sure.
Permalink | Comments (93) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Terence Moore
Braves’ moves hard to swallow
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Welcome to the Hot Stove Corner. Grab a stool and have some cider.
The Braves identified Tom Glavine as an offseason priority. Then they let him re-sign with the Mets without making an offer. How much slower would they have been if he hadn’t been such a priority?
In the Johnny-(Schuerholz)-come-lately attempt to free up money to pursue Glavine, the Braves explored trade scenarios for Tim Hudson. Given that Hudson is nine years younger than Glavine and is under contract for the next three seasons, wasn’t this an admission that they feel Hudson, imported to be their No. 1 starter, has no role in their future?
The Braves traded Wilson Betemit last summer and tried to justify the trade by portraying Willy Aybar, who came here from L.A., as a potential leadoff man of long standing. Today the Braves have Aybar earmarked as a utility infielder who can’t play second base. (And Danys Baez, who arrived in the package, is already gone.) Isn’t this one of those trades that looked bad at the time and even worse with time?
Granted, the offseason is still young, and getting Rafael Soriano for Horacio Ramirez seems an adroit move. But none of the other target areas — starting pitching, a leadoff hitter, outfield cover in preparation for Andruw Jones’ exit, a new second baseman now that Marcus Giles is gone — has been adressed. And, what with the salary constraints that appear to apply only to the Braves among contending teams, how much can realistically be done?
More cider, you say?
Permalink | Comments (101) | Categories: Mark Bradley, Quick Hit
Thrashers still show potential in loss
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
It says something when a narrow loss to the best team in the league isn’t good enough any more.
It says something when a franchise that is 0-for-life in playoff runs can fire 31 shots in the last two periods and doesn’t fall back on a moral victory like, well, “At least we fired 31 shots in the last two periods.”
The Thrashers aren’t there yet. But they can see there.
“Playing with the best teams, you don’t get points for that,” Bobby Holik said Wednesday night. “You’re not really playing with them until you can beat them.”
Earlier this season, the Thrashers went into Buffalo to face the Eastern Conference’s best team. They won. This time, they played host to Anaheim, which leads the NHL in wins, points, power-play goals and opponent humiliations. They lost 2-1.
They weren’t good enough to beat the best team in the league. But they are good enough, finally, to play more than 82 games.
The Thrashers are 18-9-5. They remain in first place in the Southeast Division, leading Carolina by seven points. Of course, that means nothing in December. But the lapses notwithstanding, it would seem they have the resilience — and the goaltending — to avoid a collapse over the next 50 games.
They went 12-3-5 in the first 20 games. When everybody starting planning for April, they lost four straight. When everybody panicked, they went 6-0-1 with five straight wins. Then they made the mistake of believing they were really good again. They lost at Tampa 8-0. They lost at home to Pittsburgh, 4-3 in overtime.
“I coached a Stanley Cup team in Colorado, and I know over 82 games you go through adversity in different ways,” coach Bob Hartley said. “We still have some learning to do. But one of the biggest qualities of this team is the leadership. It allows us to step back in form.”
It should be noted that the Thrashers are doing this despite missing two of their regular defensemen, Andy Sutton and Garnet Exelby. They also were minus captain Scott Mellanby against the Ducks.
Some cracks were evident early. Two early penalties led Anaheim to outshoot the Thrashers 14-4 in the first period. The Thrashers controlled the play thereafter, outfiring the Ducks 31-18.
They hit a couple of goalposts. They learned what it was like to shoot at a wall named J-S Giguere, who’s at or near the top of every goaltending statistic, except maybe for bad rebounds. They failed to score on their first six power plays, until Niko Kapanen tied it 1-1 at 11:49 of the third off a perfect pass from Ilya Kovalchuk.
And then … “A bad read and we leave one of the best scorers in the NHL wide open,” Hartley said. “That’s not acceptable.”
Less than a minute after Kapanen’s goal, defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski got caught out of position, leaving Teemu Selanne alone in front. Selanne buried his second goal of the game and 19th of the season.
“When we tied the game, maybe we should’ve been a little more careful,” Slava Kozlov said. “We got sloppy. It would’ve been nice to beat Anaheim.”
They went from a five-game winning streak to an 8-0 loss in Tampa Bay. That’s not a slap of reality, it’s an anvil falling on your head. In consecutive losses to the Lightning and Pittsburgh, the Thrashers allowed 12 goals on 81 shots and gave the opposition 12 power plays (resulting in four goals).
They were undisciplined in the neutral zone and sloppy in their own end. They failed to get the puck in deep and failed to forecheck. If you’re a novice to hockey, think of combining gasoline, dynamite, a barn and a blowtorch.
This game was a partial bounce back. Also a sign that they’re not falling apart.
“We have to make sure we’re not like a roller coaster, going up and down,” Marian Hossa said. “We’re trying to establish a winning track again.”
Almost … there.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Thrashers / NHL
Iverson’s not the answer here
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
It’s not going to happen. Well, if you go by what Hawks coach Mike Woodson told our Sekou Smith the other day, we’re not going to see A.I. dribbling in the ATL for the hometown team.
Good.
No, great.
Maybe you’ve heard that perennial All-Star Allen Iverson wants out of the Philadelphia 76ers sooner than later, but here’s the problem: Who can play with the guy? Two of his buddies, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Garnett, want him to come to their respective teams, but if Iverson goes to the Denver Nuggets (Anthony) or to the Minnesota Timberwolves (Garnett), you’ll see a friendship end in a hurry.
Iverson is selfish. His supporters like to counter by saying that he plays so hard during games as a little man, even though he doesn’t like to practice. (“We’re talking about practice. Not the game, not the game, not the game.”). By not practicing, Iverson may not hurt himself, but he damages the ability of his team to develop chemistry – if there is such a thing with Iverson.
The only franchises that should seek a trade for Iverson are ones that need all the help they can get to pack their place after years of dwindling attendance.
Uh-oh.
Message to the slew of Hawks owners and general manager Billy Knight: Put your hands above your heads and slowly move away from the phone.
Permalink | Comments (75) | Categories: Hawks / NBA, Terence Moore
Corporate types ruin baseball
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
When the 37-year-old maverick Ted Turner broke ranks with the club owners cartel in 1976 and signed the maverick pitcher, Andy Messersmith, a bolt of disgust shot through the old guard, the bleachers crowd and any oracle who could foresee the future. Turner bestowed a “lifetime” contract for $1 million on the right-hander and precociously slapped this identifying label across the back of his uniform, “CHANNEL 17.” That was Turner’s bush league television station that was shooting for the majors, and well on its way.
This was the seedling. Ticket prices would go up, and up, and up, until you now pay as much as $157 for some seats in Yankee Stadium. The price of hot dogs and popcorn would go up. The price of parking would go up. Somebody had to pay for this tomfoolery, and who else but the fans? And, by the way, for all of the million or so that Turner laid out, Messersmith won just 16 games over two seasons and was gone. So was his arm.
Bring back the good ol’ Messersmith days. The market price has soared since. Baseball men are not the problem. It’s the corporate invaders, who think baseball is some kind of toy. If you can manage a zillion-dollar business grinding out widgets at a big profit, surely you can run a little playground game featuring sweat-sogged lunkheads. (Ah, but wait. They had yet to get involved with the arm-wrestling kings of negotiations: AGENTS.)
The course that baseball has taken since not even Donald Trump would understand. And you’ll notice that The Donald has been able to resist the temptation. A few seasons ago, a man of mild appearance, a commodities mogul in South Florida, John Henry, took the plunge. He had one registered credential, plus his wealth, of course.
“He loved baseball,” Edwin Pope of the Miami Herald said. “Just loved it.”
Henry bought the Florida Marlins, and shortly after had this to say about his new venture, sounding like a small boy lost in a wilderness. “I shouldn’t say anything, but it’s hard to be quiet when people are destroying the game. Anyone who says this is not destroying baseball is either ignorant or they just don’t care about the game.” He was alarmed at the fat contracts other owners were casting about. This was 2000, when the Texas Rangers blew the lid off the market with a $252 million contract with Alex Rodriguez, and they’re still responsible of $9 million of that each year, though he’s a Yankee. Also the year the Colorado shelled out $172 million combined for Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle, who between them won 40 games in a total of five seasons with the Rockies. The same Hampton whose arm has been under repair the past two seasons as a Brave, but whose paychecks go on.
But back to John Henry, now owner of the Boston Red Sox, whose payroll is the second most extravagant in the game. This is the same John Henry who authorized payment of $51.l million for the privilege of negotiating with a Japanese pitcher named Matsuzaka. Last I read, time was about to run out on his deadline.
Check the Cubs, you know, the nice, fan-loving Chicago Cubs. By the time the winter meeting opened, they had already committed themselves to $230 million in free agents, featuring Alfonso Soriano, his third team in three seasons. (Remember, this is a ball club owned by a newspaper!) Check Greg Maddux, who was beginning to look like home-folks in Atlanta. He is among several players who keep America’s moving vans on the road. From Atlanta to the Cubs, then the Dodgers now the Padres. A rumor that disturbed me was when the Braves were talking about trading Adam LaRoche for a two-inning pitcher; LaRoche, who hit 32 home runs and had finally given the Braves an established first baseman after a season of Robert Fick.
The free agent road is littered with crashes. On the other hand, consider Mark DeRosa and Henry Blanco, both cut loose by the Braves. DeRosa was rejuvenated in Texas and signed by the Cubs for $13 million, and Blanco, a backup catcher, was renewed for over $5 million. All the while, agents keep collecting their pint of blood — make that a quart — whether their clients succeed or fail. Club owners absorb the punch, any way it works out. They sign a player who falls on his face, the team fails. The player finds his game, and he becomes another J.D. Drew. The nomadic J.D. gave the Dodgers two years of his five-year contract, checked out for Boston, where he’ll play for — guess who? — the former purist John Henry. A fast learner.
I’ll be damned if I understand why I love this game.
Permalink | Comments (18) | Categories: Furman Bisher
The Tuesday Countdown
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
10: Joe Johnson was injured and the Hawks lost at Sacramento by 25. If you wanted to know what was wrong with the team, there it is. Right now it’s a one-man show - and I shudder to think how that one man is going to be moving in a couple of months.
9: I know the potential downside. I know it’s not going to happen. But let me just throw this out there one more time: Allen Iverson. And before answering, “You’re whack,” can you really say that he wouldn’t make the Hawks better?
8: Deltha O’Neal has pled not guilty to drunk driving charges. Well, yeah. I mean, given that he plays the Bengals, I’m sure he’ll be given the benefit of the doubt.
7: Cincinnati has had eight players arrested this season. BetUS.com, an online sportsbook, has posted odds on their final total this season (through Dec. 31). The odds on 12 arrests are only 6-5. You can also wager on what position the next arrestee plays. The favorite: wide receiver at 1-2. Longshot: kicker or linebacker at 20-1.
6: Let me just say that, as someone who grew up driving on the Ventura Freeway, I can’t understand how Nicole Richie missed the sign, “If using cocaine, marijuana and Vicodin, please use surface streets.”
5: It just wouldn’t be right to drug test whatever poor soul finally takes the Alabama job. No man can live in that reality.
4: Can somebody please tell me how Brady Quinn won something called the Maxwell Award as the nation’s best college football player over Heisman winner Troy Smith? I mean, outside of the whole Notre Dame, quarterback, and possibly white, thing.
3: Here’s a number for you, puckheads. The Thrashers have 41 points in 31 games. Even if they go only .500 the rest of the season (51 more games), they will finish with 92 points. Last season, Tampa Bay took the last playoff spot in the East - with 92 points.
2: Newsflash: Greg Knapp has been contacted about the Stanford opening. OK. So who gets to be the first to phone in an endorsement?
1: Knapp’s interest in the Stanford is logical. Great school, great area, great conference. Also this: He may have three games left in his current job. Chances of him being kept longer than one more season are as emaciated as Richie.
Permalink | Comments (19) | Categories: Jeff Schultz
Vick or Tomlinson: You pick
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Flowery Branch _ History is being rewritten as we speak. The Falcons are being characterized as ham-handed more than five years after the fact. It would have been better, goes the new consensus, to have dealt downward in the 2001 draft, better to have landed LaDainian Tomlinson than Michael Vick.
Better at this moment, sure. But not better over the fullness of time.
Tomlinson has rushed for more than 1,200 yards in each of his six years as a pro, and he just broke the NFL record for touchdowns in a season with three games to spare. Even so, he would have been the wrong man to draft in 2001 for the simple reason that he wasn’t Michael Vick.
If you’ve just taken notice of Vick these past few weeks, you’re working with incomplete data. You’re hearing that he’s a coach-killer. You’re seeing him flip off the home folks. You’re watching him preside over a unit that has managed seven offensive touchdowns in five games. All those things represent the truth, but not the whole truth.
The whole truth: Michael Vick galvanized a franchise and its city. The Falcons had rendered their run to Super Bowl XXXIII a raging aberration with subsequent seasons of 5-11 and 4-12.
But then, on the day Vick was drafted, a scheduled open house at the complex here overflowed its banks.
Expecting a crowd of 1,500, the Falcons were amazed when some 7,000 members of the public showed up, clogging traffic and forcing running back Jamal Anderson to drive his motorcycle on the shoulder just to reach HQ. The Falcons had completed the trade with San Diego only the day before, so the thronging represented a spontaneous outpouring.
Said Anderson that giddy day: “We’re the organization that pulled the trigger on Michael Vick. It’s cool to be a part of that.”
Vick made the city and the football-watching world view the Falcons differently, and when he became the starting quarterback after a year’s apprenticeship he began to deliver on that promise. He took the Falcons to the playoffs in 2002 and won at Lambeau Field. In 2004 he led his team to the NFC title game. Even now, in the midst of his least effective season, it’s essential to note that he’s 38-25-1 as a starter.
San Diego is 48-44 in games that Tomlinson has started and hasn’t won a playoff game since it made him the fifth pick of the 2001 draft. (And much of his time as a pro was spent alongside draft classmate Drew Brees, who has become the NFL’s leading passer after leaving the Chargers.) As good as he is, Tomlinson as a draftee would have been viewed locally as just another running back. (FYI: Tomlinson outgained Warrick Dunn by just 46 yards last season and had 59 more carries.)
What the Falcons lacked in 2001 was a focal point. Vick has been that, often for better but occasionally for worse, since he arrived. He became the reason to watch the Falcons, the reason to believe they were never out of any game. Arthur Blank would probably have bought the team anyway, but surely the allure of Vick, who was about to become the No. 1 quarterback, clinched the deal.
The men who oversaw Vick’s drafting — Dan Reeves, Harold Richardson, Ron Hill, Taylor Smith — are gone. Neither Jim Mora nor Rich McKay cared to join the MV/LT debate Monday, Mora saying, “I wasn’t here in 2001.” But if you were around then and have watched all along, you know exactly what Vick has meant to this franchise.
Has he progressed at the rate you’d have thought? No. Does he still command your attention every second he’s on the field? Absolutely. Even if he never does anything else for the Falcons — and there’s no reason to think he won’t do a whole lot — he was still the right pick at the right time.
The Chargers did well in the 2001 draft. They landed a Hall of Fame back. But not every trade is a zero-sum game. The Falcons did more than OK themselves. They took a quarterback and gained a credibility they’d never had.
Permalink | Comments (149) | Categories: Mark Bradley
Falcons flawed, but in the hunt for playoffs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Tampa – There is little we know about the Falcons’ future, except for maybe this: In three weeks, there will be no need to ask the question, “Will 6-10 get them in?”
Conclusions? Don’t even try. The Falcons played the kind of first half Sunday that gets coaches fired and player drop-kicked. They played the kind of second half that only in this most bizarre of NFL seasons keeps a team sitting in a lifeboat, waiting for the Coast Guard.
Conclusions? It’s too late for that. Or too early. They have consecutive wins over two bad teams (Washington and Tampa Bay). It’s better, but is it more clarifying than consecutive losses to two bad teams (Detroit and Cleveland)? The same defense that a few weeks ago made Charlie Frye look like Y.A. Tittle on Sunday made Bruce Gradkowski look like, well, Bruce Gradkowski.
The Falcons defeated Tampa Bay, 17-6. They, if you’re into weekly parades, go for it.
“I can’t figure it out myself,” DeAngelo Hall said.
If nothing else, the Falcons have shown resolve the last two weeks. They had lost four straight and trailed at Washington, 14-0. But they won. They trailed at Tampa, 6-0, and somehow were making that smallish deficit look insurmountable. (It’s never good when your kickoff returner, Allen Rossum, drops the opening kickoff, then fumbles it moments later when somebody actually hits him.) But they won.
They are flawed. But they are here.
They are 7-6, but remain central to wild-card scenarios. They lost two running backs, Warrick Dunn and Jerious Norwood, in the same series. But fullback Justin Griffith followed with the first rushing touchdown of his career.
Start 5-2. Lose four straight. Win two in a row.
Throw a ping-pong ball into a windstorm. Which way do they go next?
“We can’t relapse now,” Lawyer Milloy said. “We’ve been given a shot. We were given a chance in the middle of the season because nobody really took off. We have a heartbeat.”
That puts you ahead of most in the NFC.
If the Falcons are serious about this, we’ll know next week. The next game is against Dallas. Atlanta has only one win this season against a team that possessed a winning record the week the Falcons played them (Cincinnati was 4-2). But they lost to Baltimore. They lost to the Saints twice. Their other wins are over the Panthers, Bucs (twice), Cardinals, Steelers and Redskins.
If style points don’t amount to much in the BCS, they mean even less in the NFL.
“There are teams that get into the playoffs that bump their way in, no matter what their record is,” Milloy said. “There are some teams that are a force going in. There are teams that are getting stronger as they’re going in. That’s the potential of this team.
“We’re in this situation because we put ourselves in this position. Things are starting to come together. If we do achieve our ultimate goal, it’ll just be that much sweeter.”
Flawed. But here.
In Tampa, the Falcons beat a 3-10 team with the worst offense in the NFL. Their own offense managed one touchdown. But they’re not in a position to be choosy.
A year ago in this stadium, they watched their already fractured playoff hopes collapse. They lost to the Buccaneers, 27-24, in overtime. Their coach, Jim Mora, lost his head in a radio interview and spiked his headset. He was fined $25,000 for using a cellphone during the game to check on tiebreaker scenarios. To close the season, the Falcons threw themselves in front of a bus, losing at home to Carolina, 44-11.
We don’t know how this season will end. But it now appears likely the Falcons’ final game at Philadelphia will mean something, especially given the Eagles are clinging to the side of the same mountain as the Falcons.
“Everything keeps falling into place,” Hall said. “If somebody wants to give it to us, OK. We’re still not making as many plays as we need to. But we’re making more plays than we were six weeks ago, when we started losing four in a row.”
Three more wins and they finish 10-6.
Three more losses and they finish 7-9.
You can get roughly the same odds on either scenario.
Permalink | Comments (74) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Jeff Schultz
Coaching change killed Vick’s development
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
No question that Dan Reeves is the Falcons’ Harry Truman. In other words, the former NFL coaching standout continues to look better with time. “I’m not old enough to remember Harry Truman,” said Reeves, 62, chuckling, from his Buckhead home, before he proceeded to remember just about everything else.
Take, for instance, Reeves’ prediction three years ago of stagnation (or worse) for Michael Vick.
The prediction came near the end of the Falcons’ ugly 2003 season, when Reeves was fired. It didn’t matter that the Falcons mostly imploded because of Vick’s broken leg during the preseason. Never mind that the Falcons spent the previous year pulling their Miracle at Green Bay during the playoffs. Or that Reeves led the franchise to its only Super Bowl. Or that he ranks among just six NFL coaches in history with more than 200 victories.
Reeves was outta here. To which he recalled telling Arthur Blank, the Falcons’ new owner at the time, that Vick would suffer the most. “I just felt like he was making a lot of progress and that he was going to be really good, but when Arthur made the decision [to fire me], I told him that it was going to set [Vick] back. I said, ‘You just can’t bring people in with different systems, because it’s going to take time for him to adjust.’ Except for the injury that he suffered, I thought he was progressing pretty well.”
Actually, Vick was progressing extremely well. He even used the momentum from his Reeves days to reach the NFC championship game during the first year of the Jim Mora regime. In fact, 20 of the Falcons’ 22 starters in that championship game were acquired by the Reeves regime. But this is primarily about Vick, a six-year veteran, whose best season came in 2002 during his last full year under Reeves. That was when Vick finished with his highest passer rating (81.6 compared to his current 74.5), had his most passing yards (2,936 compared to his current 1,892 with four games to go) and managed his fewest interceptions (eight compared to his current nine).
Unlike now, Reeves allowed Vick to audible more than once every presidential election year. “Everybody’s different, and it sounds like [Falcons offensive coordinator] Greg Knapp, even when he had Steve Young, his system just doesn’t have the ability to audible. When we had [Vick], we tried to make it where he could adjust. It made your game plan simpler at times, but he did a good job, and we gave him the chance to get out of bad plays.”
Not only that, Reeves helped Vick as a player and as a person with the hiring of a speech coach to smooth out his many rough edges. “He was maturing,” said Reeves, and the way things were going, you had the feeling that the only time Vick would point a finger at the home crowd would be to signal that the Falcons were No. 1. Instead, Vick flashed an obscene gesture last month inside the Georgia Dome toward booing fans after a loss. Said Reeves, “I hated to see it, and he did, too, because he’s not that person. He’s not a confrontational person.”
Neither is Vick “a coach killer,” said Reeves, referring to the older Jim Mora, who agreed when the co-host of his former radio show used that phrase. Added Reeves, “A coach killer is somebody who doesn’t cooperate and tries to back-stab you, and that’s not Mike Vick, and anybody around him knows he’s not that.”
If you haven’t guessed, Reeves still cherishes the guy that he made the first pick overall of the 2001 NFL draft. The old coach works these days as a color analyst on radio for Westwood One, and he studied Vick up close and personal two games ago during the Falcons’ stinging loss to the rival New Orleans Saints. “I didn’t see any separations between receivers and defensive backs for him to throw to,” Reeves said. “To really tell whether Mike’s progressing or not, there’s a lot of things involved. You have to be there every day and determine if he’s doing the things that you’ve asked him to do.”
Vick did those things under Reeves. So did many others.
Permalink | Comments (122) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Terence Moore
McGwire gets in on my Hall of Fame ballot
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
I voted for Mark McGwire because he was the greatest pure power hitter in the history of baseball, and I’m aware the word “pure” bears a loaded connotation. You’re asking: Was there anything “pure” about anything McGwire did on the baseball field?
I voted for McGwire because I don’t know that there wasn’t. I might suspect, sure. But is suspicion enough to keep a man out of the Hall of Fame? In a nation where the law carries the presumption of innocence, should the national pastime carry the presumption of guilt?
I voted for McGwire because I don’t hold his stammering “I’m-not-here-to-talk-about-the-past” appearance before the congressional committee against him because I considered the whole thing a sham. (And also because I note with amusement that the most impassioned testimony came from the finger-wagging Rafael Palmeiro, who later tested positive. So much for forthrightness.)
I voted for McGwire because I’m uncomfortable doing what baseball should have done when balls started flying over yonder fences at an unprecedented rate. Did blundering Bud Selig say, “I smell a rat — let’s test for performance-enhancing drugs ASAP”? No, baseball did as baseball does: It banked the money from bumped-up ticket sales and toasted the Bashball Binge as the newest golden era of the grand old game. The sport turned its head, and now it expects humble voters — the AJC doesn’t allow writers to vote in weekly polls or on yearly awards but permits columnists to cast a Hall of Fame ballot — to sit as ex post facto judge and jury?
I voted for McGwire because his numbers are cut from Cooperstown cloth — 583 home runs, the seventh-most ever, and four seasons of 50-plus homers, tied for the most ever — and because, in a sport clothed in murk, numbers offer the only clarity. And let’s say for argument’s sake that McGwire did use steroids later in his career: He hit 49 home runs as a rawboned rookie in 1987, which means he was pretty strong already. So how many of the 583 were tainted, and how many weren’t? Enough to downsize Big Mac into just another Dave Kingman?
I voted for McGwire because baseball didn’t bother to test for steroids until 2002, and he played his last game in 2001. And yes, I realize steroids were (and are) illegal without a prescription, but andro, which McGwire admitted using in 1998, was available over the counter. If ingesting andro was his greatest sin, is that enough to bar him from the hallowed Hall? If so, then how do we explain the ongoing enshrinement of Gaylord Perry, who threw what he has admitted was an illegal-by-baseball-bylaws spitter? Is morality different for pitchers than for hitters?
I voted for McGwire because I’m tired of the come-lately moralizing. This week’s Sports Illustrated includes an anti-McGwire sermonette; exactly eight years ago, the same magazine dressed McGwire and Sammy Sosa in togas and laurel wreaths and proclaimed them its Sportsmen of the Year. The homers hit in 1998 are still recognized as legitimate by MLB and will surely never be invalidated; if deeds are allowed to stand, can we devalue the doers?
I voted for McGwire, and I expect I’ll be in the distinct minority. (A player must be named on 75 percent of the ballots to earn enshrinement; last year 520 votes were cast.) I’m fully aware that baseball is caught up in a wave of “reform,” but unless/until somebody proves that McGwire cheated to the extent cheating made him an exponentially better hitter, I’ll vote for him. The same with Sammy Sosa. The same with Barry Bonds.
I voted for McGwire because I’m not God and I’m not Sherlock Holmes. For too long baseball didn’t want to know the provenance of its power surge, and the inevitable consequence is that too much is now unknowable. I don’t know for certain what McGwire did or didn’t do off the field. I only know what he did on it.
Permalink | Comments (36) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Mark Bradley
College playoffs would be worse than BCS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Playoffs? Playoffs?
Those whining about such a needless thing in big-time college football have the same mindset as those always clamoring for the backup quarterback. Just call them masters of the knee-jerk reaction. While they have more than a few thoughts on getting from A to B, they ignore all the likely horrors along the way to Z.
Translated: Bashers of the flawed but perfectly adequate Bowl Championship Series should take a deep breath, count to 10 and acknowledge that a playoff system at the Division I-A level would create a lovely world only in their own shortsighted imaginations.
The BCS mostly works, even with its various controversies. Those controversies are good. I mean, Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville and the rest of the SEC chauvinists can moan forever that the undefeated Tigers got jobbed out of the title game after the 2004 season. Eventual champion Southern Cal would have whipped them anyway, but now Auburn always can claim otherwise.
Here’s another BCS positive: Every game during the regular season counts, and it makes the big ones bigger. With a playoff system, you could forget about something such as this year’s Ohio State game at Texas during the second week. To assure themselves of an impressive record to become playoff bound, teams would be even more prone to play the likes of Samford and Western Kentucky.
Not only that, imagine if there had been a playoff system in place this year before Ohio State’s monster game at the end of the regular season against Michigan. Well, it wouldn’t have been a monster game, because both teams already would have been highly seeded in the playoffs. So if you’re Ohio State’s Jim Tressel, you would resemble your average NFL coach in that situation and rest Heisman Trophy candidate Troy Smith and other starters for long stretches or for the entire game.
In other words, you could say goodbye to the intensity and the integrity of most rivalry games, especially with the playoffs on the horizon. Which brings us to this: If you think universities are ruthless now ousting coaches (Miami just fired Larry Coker after he won 80 percent of his games in six years and a national championship), imagine the speed of the revolving door for such coaches when they go three, maybe two years, without reaching the playoffs.
You’d suddenly have a slew of Jim Boeheims in the sport. He’s the Syracuse basketball coach who wants the NCAA to expand March Madness from 65 teams to whatever.
In fact, Jim Haney, the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, told the Associated Press this summer that he would prefer to see the hoops tournament nearly doubled to 128 teams to help coaches save their jobs.
That means those who believe the BCS can be replaced by a simple playoff system of four or eight teams also believe that they should strengthen their roofs – you know, in anticipation of Santa landing with his heavy sleigh. As for the truth, if you combine that epidemic of worried coaches with most of the 119 Division I-A teams wishing for a piece of the outrageous revenue that would come from a playoff system, you’ve got something more evil than what supposedly is the satanic BCS.
Courtesy of that outrageous revenue, generated by television rights, sponsorship deals and tickets the price of a Buckhead condo, you would have even more talk about paying players. How much should you pay them, and given Title IX, how would you determine what to give the other athletes in your department, including women?
Oh, in case you’re wondering, here’s how they would pick the participants for these playoff games: The arbitrary way with selected computers and human polls, exactly like they do now for the BCS. It’s just that, given the heightened stakes, folks would be yelling even louder.
Permalink | Comments (89) | Categories: Tech / ACC, Terence Moore, UGA / SEC
Falcons will fall in Tampa
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Before launching into this week’s college-free, bowl-free, fat-free, sugar-free, quite possibly profit-free but surely not Pam Anderson-free (can’t pass up this week’s gem of advice from Her Mammoryness: “Don’t get married on vacation.”) investments, we have a holiday season update.
Maine has denied a request to distribute a new beer label, “Santa’s Butt Winter Porter.” This comes one year after Connecticut prevented the same Shelton Brothers company from distributing “Seriously Bad Elf” ale. Can’t wait for “Reindeer Farts” lager.
The Maine state police say they’re looking out for the kids. They also rejected two labels that show bare-breasted women (though, fortunately, neither was Mrs. Claus).
“Santa’s Butt” depicts a rear view of Nick on a barrel. The Sheltons see nothing wrong with this because, they claim, St. Nicholas was the patron saint of not only children but brewers and barrel-makers. I can’t find evidence of this. But given that St. Nicholas is credited with destroying several pagan temples, it’s safe to assume he later celebrated in boxers and with a six-pack. (I know; I’ve got a nonstop to Hades.)
Does anybody really believe Santa could get through Christmas without a beer? I mean, one sitting at Macy’s alone would drive a man to drink. The girl wants a cellphone. The boy wants a PS3. Now some old dude with a mustache elbows his way to the front, demanding an offensive coordinator. Oy.
And speaking of the Falcons: They live. Go figure. They scored three touchdowns last week. Put that on a beer can. Next it’s Tampa Bay, which is so bad that the Falcons are a road favorite.
Um, what?
Sorry. I can’t jump yet. I’ve seen too many bad elves. Gimme the three points. But Bucs win.
A 12-pack
Saints at Cowboys: In the past four weeks, Tony Romo is 4-0, completed 38 of 47 with three touchdowns and no interceptions in the second halves of games and sunk a boatload of potential Bill Parcells jokes. I’m sorry. Some things just can’t be forgiven. Cowboys cover 7.
Broncos at Chargers: It turns out Jay Cutler really is special. After one start (three turnovers, three sacks, a loss), fans are longing for Jake Plummer. Chargers cover 7 1/2.
Giants at Panthers: New York players have a tough choice: miss the playoffs or save Tom Coughlin’s job. Then again, there’s the playoff check. Giants win.
Patriots at Dolphins: Nick Saban never wanted the Alabama job; he just wanted people in Miami to think he wanted the Alabama job so that they would forget the Dolphins are 5-7. Oops. Make that 5-8. Pats cover 3 1/2.
Colts at Jaguars: Indy is 1-2 since a 9-0 start, which isn’t nearly as important as the fact Peyton Manning is handing off too much and therefore killing my fantasy league team. Colts 97, Jags 3.
Bears at Rams: I see Rex Grossman and the Bears and I think, “Curly driving a cruise ship.” Take Shams and 6 1/2 — and in a straight upset.
Ravens at Chiefs: The Ravens and Steve McNair can clinch a playoff spot. The over/under on car fires in Nashville is 17. Baltimore covers 3.
Bills at Jets: New York’s last four opponents (Bills, Vikings, Dolphins, Raiders) have a combined record of 17-31. If they don’t make the playoffs, they’ll make Nashville’s car fires look like a Bic. This is a win, but take the Bills and 4.
Packers at 49ers: Brett Favre says he’s talking to John Elway about how to deal with losing. The only problem with that is Elway won two Super Bowls at the end of his career and Favre can’t even beat the Jets. San Fran covers 4 1/2.
Eagles at Redskins: The problem is not Joe Gibbs, the coach. The problem is Joe Gibbs, the general manager. Then again, neither right now is as good as Joe Gibbs, the NASCAR owner. Gimme Philly on the road, covering 1 1/2.
Titans at Texans: Houston’s former team and its current one. No city has seen such destruction since Kabul. Titans in an upset, take the 1 1/2.
Raiders at Bengals: One team is walking the Green Mile, the other is forever awaiting sentencing. Bengals cover 11.
Almost perfect
Last week: 4-5 straight up, 3-6 against the line.
Somewhere below sea level: 80-48 straight up, 57-69-2 against the line.
Net profits: Yeah. Right.
Vacation plans: See profits.
Absolute lock of the week: Master.
Permalink | Comments (68) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Jeff Schultz
Taking the Hawks seriously
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Having criticized the Hawks when they were winning only two games a month, I feel the need to point out that they’re now capable of winning two games a week. Fair, after all, is fair.
I don’t know how long it will be until they’re really good. I don’t know if they’ll ever get good. But honesty compels me to admit they’re better than I thought they’d be so far this season. Whenever they lose a game and I figure, “Here comes one of those seven-game skids,” they up and win one that makes me go, “Hmmmm.”
Winning in Denver on Wednesday was one such game. Down by 17 inside the final 10 minutes, they wound up beating a good team on the road. That wouldn’t have happened last year or any year this century.
Does this mean I’m recanting every nasty word I’ve written about this organization? No, it doesn’t. If the Hawks had drafted Chris Paul/Deron Williams or had figured out a way to turn Boris Diaw into a player, they’d have been winning long ago. And an 8-9 record, while good by recent Hawk standards, isn’t good by most any other measure.
But enough of that. Today’s point is that I’m starting to take the Hawks seriously again. I don’t know if I’ll still be taking them seriously a month from now or three months from now, but at this moment I am. I like the way they’re playing. I’m curious if they can keep it up.
If they can, we’ll talk again. If they can’t, forget I ever said anything.
Permalink | Comments (53) | Categories: Mark Bradley, Quick Hit
Let Vick improvise more
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
If you are standing in a dirt lot and you’re choosing up sides, you want Michael Vick as your quarterback. Existing doubts about his NFL future notwithstanding, Vick’s strengths remain unchanged: his ability to move, to improvise, to be the X-factor, to create chances when most others can’t. Let him draw it up in the dirt and run down to the Chevy.
Then there’s the other side of Vick.
As he said Wednesday when recalling a touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins last week: “It was a laser, and I was glad I was able to put the ball in a tight spot. Most of the time when I throw the ball with everything I got, it doesn’t go to the right place.”
So one week the man is feeling the weight of a crumbling franchise and hostile fan base on his shoulders, and the next week he’s practicing self-deprecating humor. Amazing what a successful improvisation will do for a man and team’s spirits.
The Falcons are 6-6. By all logic, they should be sipping an embalming smoothie. Fortunately, they play in the NFC, professional sports’ new standard for mediocrity, so they’re still twitching in a wild-card race.
To make it there, Vick needs to be the difference, just as he was in bringing the Falcons back from down 14 points down to a 24-14 win in Washington. He needs to be, on occasion, unscripted. The go-ahead touchdown against the Redskins was a 22-yard pass from Vick to Jenkins, on a play only those two knew about. Vick faked a screen to the left, and then fired to Jenkins, who ran to the post and got inside position on a startled Washington safety.
Vick is at his best without handcuffs. It’s not just that he is more entertaining, he also is more dangerous. Greg Knapp, the team’s maligned offensive coordinator, admitted earlier this season that trying to fit Vick into an offensive system was more difficult than he anticipated. So maybe the system has too much framework.
“I would never want to hinder a quarterback and say, ‘Here’s what the rules are,’?” Knapp said Wednesday. “It certainly opens some thing up. I encourage the play-action stuff. I want him to stay creative in the passing game.”
Asked Wednesday about possibly doing more free-lancing, Vick chose to play the role of responsible quarterback: “You can’t do that in this league. Defenses are too good. You could, to a certain degree. But you would be totally dishonoring your own system by doing your own thing and free-lancing.”
OK, well, we’re only talking “to a certain degree” here. As to the system, what is it exactly? There are several reasons for this season’s problems — drops, misfires, poor protection — but the biggest is an ever-mutating game plan. The offense has no identity.
To Knapp’s credit, the touchdown to Jenkins stemmed in part from what Vick has been told: don’t be afraid to create. After the Redskins game, Vick said, “Sometimes you’ve got to overcome coaching.” Some took that as a slap at his coaches. Others assumed it was a tongue-in-cheek remark. In reality, it was neither.
“I knew that quote was going to be perceived as, ‘See, the coaches don’t know what they’re doing,’?” Knapp said. “That’s something we throw at them in meetings: ‘Hey, sometimes you’ve got to overcome coaching.’ We can’t coach every scenario up. Maybe there weren’t enough reps [in practice]. Maybe the defense is giving a different look than we expected.”
Vick is known for two things: 1) Making something out of nothing; 2) Making nothing out of something. But Knapp doesn’t want to give his quarterback too much freedom. He doesn’t like audibles. He prefers to have something “built in,” adding, “That way, there’s less communicating going on just before the ball is being snapped. I was with Steve Young for six years and I probably can count on two hands the amount of time he audibled. And he’s a lawyer.”
Vick said he would like to audiblize more “down the road.” Any quarterback would. It’s his show. This team’s success always will hinge on Vick’s ability to create and make plays. Drawing something up in the dirt only plays to his strengths.
Permalink | Comments (120) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Jeff Schultz
Tide should call on Croom
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
This is no surprise: Although West Virginia’s Rich Rodriguez is sort of listening to the Crimson Tide folks (mostly to get a tighter hug from his Mountaineer folks), nobody wishes to coach football at the University of Alabama.
I mean, what highly competent coach in his right mind would choose to battle the eternal shadows of The Bear in Tuscaloosa?
Only Sylvester Croom.
Oh, that’s right. The Crimson Tide folks didn’t want him.
This is the same Croom who was born and raised in Tuscaloosa and won SEC championships as an All-America player under The Bear. This is the same Croom who spent much of his 11 years as an assistant coach at Alabama under the Bear. This is the same Croom whose father was team chaplain under The Bear.
This also is the same Croom who watched Alabama’s athletics department name a yearly commitment to excellence award in his honor nearly two decades ago to commemorate the values that Croom learned under The Bear.
If all of that wasn’t enough, this is the same Croom who was an accomplished NFL assistant coach for 17 years when he applied for the Alabama head job in 2003.
Croom didn’t get it, and the Crimson Tide folks said that it wasn’t because Croom was darker than The Bear. The Crimson Tide folks said that it was because Croom lacked head coaching experience. The Crimson Tide folks gave the job to Mike Shula, and in case you’re wondering, he also lacked head coaching experience.
This is the same Shula who isn’t darker than The Bear and who recently was fired after three non-winning seasons during his four years on campus. Among Shula’s slew of ugly losses was the one this year to rival Mississippi State.
You know, the SEC team coached by Croom.
Permalink | Comments (205) | Categories: Quick Hit, Terence Moore
The BCS joke’s on us
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
THE TUESDAY COUNTDOWN
10: Michigan didn’t play last week and fell to third in the BCS rankings. I figure by bowl week, they’ll be down to 17th.
9: Seriously, I don’t have a problem with anybody putting Florida in the BCS title game because they legitimately think the Gators are the second-best team in the country. The problem is most voters flopped their rankings largely because they didn’t want to see a rematch between Michigan and Ohio State. Pollsters: You’re supposed to rank teams, not play Don King.
8: And finally, Jim Tressel’s abstention in the coach’s poll is Exhibit A about why Division I coaches shouldn’t vote. If Tressel ranked Michigan No. 2, he would’ve been accused of siding with the Big Ten. If he ranked Florida No. 2, he would’ve been accused of trying to avoid a rematch. As it was, he was only accused of being a wimp.
7: Son of, “And finally”: The BCS can’t be fixed but this would help. Either: 1) Have every major conference hold a conference title game, like the SEC and ACC, or, 2) Pass a rule preventing a second-place team from playing in the BCS title game.
6: Photographs clearly indicated the other night that Britney Spears was not wearing underwear. This has absolutely nothing to do with the BCS. I just felt it was time to change topics.
5: One day, I’m going to be walking down the street and see two ex-boxers, three ex-Bengals, Britney Spears and the BCS, drinking out of a paper bag.
4: The pressure is on the Cincinnati Bengals: With four games left, they now have as many arrests as wins (seven each). Anybody want to lay odds on the winner?
3: I declared the Falcons dead two weeks ago. Little did I realize at the time that the rest of the NFC was DOA as well.
2: The fact John Schuerholz wanted Tom Glavine back and didn’t sign him because he was concerned about not being able to trade Tim Hudson or another pitcher further illustrates the financial handcuffs on the Braves’ front office.
1: So if bowl games are rewards, is Chan Gailey going to bench Reggie Ball in the Gator Bowl as a reward to the rest of the Georgia Tech players?
Permalink | Comments (18) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Quick Hit
Gailey makes Ball a scapegoat
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
There’s a word to describe Chan Gailey’s hint that he might change quarterbacks for the Gator Bowl.
The word is …
Weak.
It’s the weak attempt of a damaged coach to lay the blame for two crushing defeats on Reggie Ball.
Yes, Ball was wretched against Georgia and Wake Forest, and yes, he’s unpopular with both the media and the masses. But who kept putting Ball on the field these past four seasons to numbingly diminishing returns? Who claimed after the Georgia game that Ball was irreplaceable?
The time to change quarterbacks isn’t now that this season of promise has fizzled. The time to change quarterbacks was when Ball was ailing so conspicuously at Clemson two months ago. The time to change quarterbacks was after Ball’s infamous fourth-down throwaway against Georgia two years ago, and indeed Gailey said going into the 2004 Champs Sports Bowl that the position would be open in spring practice. But Ball was named the MVP in Orlando, and the status quo held. And two years later, here we are again.
Few four-year starters in the history of football have progressed as little as Ball. But Gailey has had the equivalent of a presidential term to make more of his quarterback and couldn’t do it, nor could he recruit someone to supplant him. There were times when it seemed Gailey and play-caller Patrick Nix were almost scared of Ball — scared to criticize him, scared to correct him, scared to ask him to throw anything but a 40-yard heave (heaven forbid that Tech’s tight end ever catch a pass) down the sideline. Was this coaching or enabling?
The belief here is that these past two games have hurt Gailey as much as the 51-7 loss to Georgia did in his first season. (Ball had nothing to do with that one.) That 2002 game led many in the Tech community to believe Gailey didn’t know his business; these past two have turned any would-be converts into full-blown skeptics. Even Jason Hill of Conyers, who has been quoted in this space as a Gailey advocate, said Monday: “You build a program by sticking by a coach, and I think the direction of the program is up. … [But] there’s no excuse for losing the last two games, and the ultimate accountability lies with the head coach.”
Dan Howington, who lettered at linebacker for Tech in 1980 and ‘81 and who lives in Greensboro, Ga., wrote in an e-mail: “A group of old Tech ballplayers made the trip from Atlanta for the [ACC title] game in hope the coaches had learned something from the miserable offensive game plan used in the loss to Georgia. We almost canceled the trip after that loss but held out hope the coaches would finally see what even the most casual football fan has seen for years now. No such luck. And don’t blame Reggie Ball; he just tries his best to run the plays he’s given. He has been asked to execute plays he cannot consistently execute. Who is ultimately at fault for that stubbornness?”
The possibility of seeing Ball benched will play well with Tech fans who have wearied of the quarterback’s diffuse passing and diffident attitude. Here’s Ken Wheeler of Cave Spring via e-mail: “Most of us will stay home if Reggie plays [in the Gator Bowl]. A definite answer of, ‘Yes, Taylor [Bennett] will start,’ would boost ticket sales.”
There is, however, a bigger issue than selling tickets. If you’re loyal to a guy, you’re loyal to the last dance — not the penultimate one. Gailey could argue that the Gator is really the first game of next season, and therefore he needs to assess Bennett. By that bit of reasoning, Joe Anoai and KaMichael Hall and Kenny Scott would likewise need to sit against West Virginia because they’re exiting seniors. (Calvin Johnson, too, because he’s surely gone.)
For better or worse, Ball is still the same player he was two weeks ago, two years ago. Only now his coach is apparently wondering whether the guy who has started 49 games should get a 50th. If Ball doesn’t start on New Year’s Day, it won’t be because he has gotten worse overnight. It will be because the coach whom Ball helped earn a fat new contract suddenly has need of a scapegoat.
Permalink | Comments (251) | Categories: Mark Bradley
The BCS blows it again
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Michigan has the second-best team in the country, but Florida has had the better season. Michigan stood a better chance of beating Ohio State in Glendale, Ariz., but Florida-OSU represents the better matchup. Does any of this add up?
Of course not.
It’s the BCS.
The BCS was created to ward off a playoff system, created to give the illusion of a legitimate championship game without damaging the sacrosanct bowls. And most every January, that’s what we get — the illusion of legitimacy. We’ll never know if Michigan is actually superior to the Gators, though the belief here is that it is. We’ll know only that Florida swung enough votes by playing on the last Saturday night of the season to outpoll the Wolverines, whose bad fortune it was to have concluded their schedule Nov. 18.
Did Florida deserve to go to Glendale? Unless it finishes undefeated, no team actually “deserves” anything. And even going unbeaten guarantees nothing if you’re not from one of the glamour leagues. Ask Boise State. Why didn’t it get a shot at the Buckeyes? Ask Louisville, which is technically from a BCS league and which finished its season with one-three point road loss, same as Michigan, but finished only sixth in the final BCS standings.
Urban Meyer took much grief for lobbying so hard — the latest round from Lloyd Carr, who coaches Michigan — for his Gators these last two weeks, but Meyer’s lobbying is the key reason Florida jumped above the Wolverines. The “no-rematch” argument was the clincher, even though it seems utterly disingenuous for any Gators coach ever to make that case. The only reason Florida has a mythical national championship to its name is because, 10 years ago, it was granted a bowl rematch with Florida State.
The voters penalized Michigan not because the Wolverines had gotten appreciably worse this last fortnight but because the desire to create a more palatable BCS title game outweighed all else. That’s what happens when voting is involved. Consistency takes a last-minute hike.
This isn’t to say Florida is without compelling merit. It won the nation’s best conference and lost only one game en route. The Gators are a really good team; I just happen to believe Michigan is slightly better. (And I generally give SEC team the benefit of all doubt.) But that’s why the BCS is flawed at its core — it runs on opinion, and reasonable minds can disagree reasonably. The beauty of the NCAA basketball tournament is that opinions play little part in deciding a champion. It all gets worked out on the court.
No matter how hard it’s tweaked, the BCS only gets more tangled every year. On Sunday it was learned that Jim Tressel, who coaches Ohio State, had recused himself from the balloting because he didn’t want to pick his own opponent. As noble as that sounds, Tressel’s self-disenfranchisement surely hurt Michigan: Who’s a better judge of the Wolverines than the last coach to face them? And should a man who has agreed to vote in the coaches’ poll be allowed to pull out just because it becomes politically inconvenient?
We live in a society controlled by politics, which is why we look to sports as our refuge. In sports, the cold reality of the scoreboard carries the day. Except in Division I-A college football, where the regular season ends and the scoreboard gets turned off and clarity disappears.
We’ll never know if Michigan could have taken Ohio State on a neutral field, or if Louisville or even Boise State could have pulled a George Mason in Glendale. We’ll never know because the men who oversee the BCS are more consumed with safeguarding the status quo than with doing what’s right. There needs to be a playoff, but there will never be a playoff.
Permalink | Comments (195) | Categories: Mark Bradley, UGA / SEC
Milloy leads, but too late
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Landover, Md. – Maybe Ed Jasper would have discovered ways to pump this much life into a Falcons corpse. Definitely Shawn Jefferson, noted for melting a wall or three with his sizzling tongue. Actually, not since Eugene Robinson (you know, before his little incident prior to the night of that Super Bowl) has this franchise had a leader in its locker room as strikingly effective as Lawyer Milloy.
Thus there is hope for the Falcons in search of the playoffs.
It’s false hope. Despite moving to 6-6 after overcoming a 14-0 deficit in the first quarter Sunday at FedEx Field to steamroll their way to a 24-14 victory over the pitiful Washington Redskins, the Falcons have too many issues to conquer. They range from a coaching staff that has yet to prove it deserves longevity, to a personnel department that has acquired a slew of big-money underachievers (or busts), to huge weaknesses on the offensive line, at wide receiver and in the secondary.
Even so, what remains of the Falcons’ hope wears No. 36, still plays a potent strong safety at 33 and has a habit of matching his actions with his words.
“He lets us know how he feels, and he fires everybody up,” wide receiver Michael Jenkins said. Added linebacker Michael Boley, “He’s constantly out there telling us to keep the energy up, to keep the blood flowing, to stay poised, to stay focused.” Then there was this from Falcons coach Jim Mora, with eyes sparkling while saying the only picture of a player on his office walls is of Ronnie Lott: “The same type of mind-set, mentality, approach to the game that Ronnie had, that made him my favorite player of all time, is what Lawyer has.”
This time, Milloy called a meeting only for players on Saturday night at the team hotel, and then he did all sorts of wonderful things Sunday afternoon to help the Falcons end a four-game losing streak. Mostly, there was his deflected pass to a teammate that became an interception return that helped ignite the Falcons’ comeback. Afterward, while heading to the locker room, Milloy shouted to everybody in general but to his teammates in particular, “Don’t count us out.”
Too late. Courtesy of two brutal losses to NFC South rival New Orleans, the Falcons have dropped more than a few tiebreaking scenarios. As a result, the only way they can assure themselves of a playoff berth is to sweep their way to the end of the regular season, with victories at Tampa and Philadelphia, sandwiched around home victories against Dallas and Carolina. In the highly mediocre NFC, 9-7 might push the Falcons into the postseason, but 10-6 definitely would.
This is for sure: The Falcons players have the opportunity the rest of the way to try to save the jobs of a coaching staff that they claim they relish. Which brings us back to that Saturday night meeting. Milloy requested that coaches and other team officials and personnel leave the room, and he told his teammates that “we are already in the playoffs.” Then he opened the floor for what he called a “positive” discussion on why they were losing to the pathetic likes of Cleveland and Detroit with a roster that has the talent to do much better.
“There’s still a heartbeat with this team, and we know that nobody put us in this position but us, and that we can’t afford to lose any more after using up all of our nine lives,” said Milloy, an 11-year veteran who was acquired before this season after a career that included two trips to the Super Bowl with the New England Patriots. He has been involved with “maybe five or six” of these types of meetings. The last came with the Patriots at the beginning of the 2001 season.
Said Milloy, smiling, “At that point, which was after the second game, the players decided to take over the team, and you know the rest of the story.”
The Patriots won the Super Bowl. Which means what for the Falcons?
Well, not that.
Permalink | Comments (93) | Categories: Terence Moore
Not enough for Gators
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
They went from up 17-0, to down 21-17, to up 31-21, to panting across the finish line with a 38-28 victory that exhibited everything that makes college football great, and occasionally goofy.
And now they’ll scream.
The Florida Gators will scream that they played 10 bowl-eligible teams and beat nine of them. They’ll scream that they won the championship of the SEC, and isn’t that sort of like conquering Rome? They’ll scream that Michigan already had its shot at No. 1 and the Wolverines blew it.
What they won’t try to do is make sense of how Michigan’s only loss coming by three points at No. 1 Ohio State could somehow be worse than the Gators’ only loss coming by 10 at No. 11 Auburn.
Florida woke up this morning as SEC champs for the first time since 2000 and won at the least a trip to the Sugar Bowl. They’ll scream they deserve more: a trip to the BCS title game, as illustrated by the “B-C-S!” chant that went up in the final seconds of Saturday night’s win over Arkansas.
They’ll scream until the voters either cover their ears or jump their team over Michigan in the rankings, setting up a title game against Ohio State.
Good luck with that.
If passion factors into this, Florida gained the several needed “style points” that coach Urban Meyer so detests. But to jump from No. 4 to No. 2 in the BCS rankings over idled Michigan — as well as losing Southern Cal — the Gators needed to make an emphatic statement.
I’m not sure a frenetic 10-point win over Arkansas qualifies. But it made for good theater, and it’ll make for good debate, and that’s what separates college football from everything else.
The Gators will bank on winning with drama. They’ll bank on winning with resolve. They’ll bank on just enough voters deciding, “You know, I just don’t want to see Ohio State-Michigan again.”
If it comes down to the latter, expect an inferno in Ann Arbor.
Houston Nutt, the Arkansas coach, was asked where he stood on the Florida debate. His answer was one of support for an SEC brother, but well short of “It would be an injustice …”
“I’m always for our conference,” Nutt said. “This is the toughest conference in America. If we were sitting on the other sideline, we’d say absolutely [we deserve to be in the title game]. I wish them the best.”
It appeared early that the Gators would have a stronger argument. They led 17-0. For Arkansas, it was a welcome back to SEC title Hades. They lost to Florida 34-3 in 1995. They lost to Georgia 30-3 four years ago. They were going on 10 quarters without a touchdown in the Georgia Dome and to that point had been outscored 81-6 in SEC championships.
Apparently, the Hogs weren’t up for another dismembering. Just before the half, the team not known for its passing attack clicked on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Casey Dick to Marcus Monk with 1:55 left in the half.
What followed was Chris Leak’s apparent attempt to channel Reggie Ball. On the first possession of the second half, the Florida quarterback had a pass picked off by Arkansas’ Weston Dacus at the Gators’ 32.
Seven plays later, tailback/quarterback Darren McFadden tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Felix Jones. Less than four minutes later, Leak found a worse way to start a drive: a feeble shovel pass that was intercepted by a defensive end, Antwain Robinson, who returned it 40 yards for a go-ahead touchdown.
“I felt like we had the momentum,” McFadden said. “The momentum switched.”
At this point, the Gators weren’t chasing style points for pollsters. Any points would do — and Arkansas made it easy on them. Reggie Fish foolishly attempted an over-the-shoulder catch on a punt return at his own 1-yard line and fumbled, and Wondy Pierre-Louis recovered to put Florida back ahead, 24-21. A few minutes later, Percy Harvin blasted off for a 67-yard touchdown run, jumping the lead to 31-21.
Gator Nation put a hold on the cyanide.
After the game, Meyer stood on his awaiting soapbox.
He’ll sleep on that soapbox.
“It’s not about style points,” he said. “We’re just trying to win games, and this team keeps finding ways to win.”
Winning by a little more would’ve helped.
Permalink | Comments (136) | Categories: Jeff Schultz
James makes Glavine unnecessary
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
For those of you who do not survive by football alone, let me open the file on the Braves, resting quietly by their fireside while some of their associates apparently have money to burn. The Cubs roll out $100 million for Alfonso Soriano, the Dodgers invest $44 million in the hope that Juan Pierre can bunt his way on base, the Red Sox ante up $51 million for the mere privilege of interviewing a Japanese pitcher whose name I can’t spell. Meantime, reports wafting in from the north indicated that Tom Glavine was tilted southward, should the Braves be interested.
Glavine had been downgraded by the Mets. They dropped a $14.5 million option they held, so he operated as a free agent. But all he got from Atlanta was silence.
John Schuerholz, chief mechanic of the Braves, feels rather steady at the wheel when he says, “We have John Smoltz renewed, and we have signed Bob Wickman, so we have our book-ends. Mike Hampton will be coming back, and that’s like getting a new pitcher. It remains for us to decide how we will fill in the rest of our staff.”
Actually, these Braves appear to be pitcher-rich to me, and don’t pull me over on suspicion of DUI. Here’s how they stack up at this point:
They have six potential starters, with Smoltz and Hampton, now recovered from a surgical sabbatical, at the head of the class. Tim Hudson must re-establish himself, but he, Smoltz and Hampton have all been 20-game winners at one time or another. Horacio Ramirez and Kyle Davies are in hand, if their bodies hold up. But here’s the sleeper: Chuck James, who looks like the real thing to me after an impressive run in the farm system and an 11-4 report card last season.
Now, as Glavine goes, he has never left Atlanta in a political sense. He still votes here. It’s home when he leaves the Mets locker room. The sense is, he’d love to finish off here what he started here. On the other hand, as far as the Braves go, they already have their Glavine. James is a virtual carbon copy, but a 14 years younger carbon copy and several millions less expensive. Crafty, brilliant control, a cunning southpaw, as they used to say, in every way.
“Of course,” Schuerholz added, “you can never have too many good arms,” but that was as close any line of communication went. Thus, Glavine checked in with the Mets again.
James is one of these pitchers who come from out of nowhere, has had impressive earned-run averages wherever he pitched, was an ace in the hole when Horacio Ramirez and John Thomson crashed, struck out 91 batters in 119 innings, and though he doesn’t strike you as having a strikeout pitch, he struck out 419 batters in 339 innings in the minor leagues. Puts the pitch where he aims it, changes speed like a wily veteran, and just beginning to blossom.
He sort of sneaked in out of the wings while the young sluggers, Francoeur, McCann and LaRoche, were generating all the noise at bat. And when Hudson’s production fell far below his pay scale, without James the Braves season would have been more a disaster than it was. And let it not be overlooked that he is another home-grown, direct from the modest surburb of Mableton. And his progress has not gone unnoticed in the system. In 2005, he was the Braves Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
Obviously, Glavine preferred to come back to the Braves, but which it’s back to Flushing for him one more season, and all the commuting. Frankly, he has never looked at home in a Mets uniform, and you have difficulty understanding why he took leave of the Braves, if home means that much. All you have to understand is the power of money. All of a sudden both he and Greg Maddux were gone, and ever since the Braves have been trying to fill the vacancies with the likes of Hudson, the high-rent flop Russ Ortiz, the low-rent John Thomson, Ramirez, and raiding their own pantry for the services of John Smoltz. With Chuck James on hand, they had no urgent need for Glavine. Been nice to know ye, Tom.
Permalink | Comments (32) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Furman Bisher
Tech’s ‘D’ stands offended
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Jacksonville — The breakthrough season wound up broken. It came apart in the bleakest of games in the bleakest of settings, came apart so completely that the better part of Georgia Tech’s team didn’t disguise its disgust for the other half.
“I don’t forget anything,” said defensive tackle Joe Anoai. “Someday I’ll look back on this, and … it’s a lack of offensive production. The defense can’t do everything.”
With the ACC championship there for the taking, Tech didn’t score a touchdown. It saw a team of lesser gifts pull even and then ahead in the final 8-1/2 minutes. It saw the best season of Chan Gailey’s stewardship disintegrate over consecutive Saturdays — two massive games, two dispiriting losses.
Anoai again: “It’s pretty difficult to come down here and do what we did today.”
As happened against Georgia, Tech took a fourth-quarter lead and spat it back. As happened in Athens, Tech spent the first three quarters looking like the stronger team but never quite proving it.
The stout-hearted defense that yielded one scoring drive in Athens was touched for two field goals in the final period here, and those six measly points carried a gray and drizzly day that should have belonged to the Jackets.
Tech whiffed on three fourth-down tries inside the Wake Forest 33, Reggie Ball delivering an interception on the first and throwing to the wrong receiver on the third. On the other he was stuffed on a quarterback sneak. These failures kept the Deacons in the game at a time when Tech had established a physical superiority. Then again, the physical part isn’t what derailed this team.
The mental part did. Put simply, Jim Grobe outcoached Gailey. Grobe took the lesser side and won a championship with it. Gailey and coordinator Patrick Nix took an offense with the ACC’s best player (Calvin Johnson) and its leading rusher (Tashard Choice) and managed two crummy field goals. And then, with just over two minutes remaining and Tech facing fourth-and-13 after Ball scrambled out of bounds, Gailey chose to punt. The Jackets never touched the ball again.
“We didn’t get ready to play,” Gailey said, “and that’s my responsibility.”
Ball was better than he’d been against Georgia — he couldn’t have been worse — but completed only 9 of 29 passes and threw two more interceptions. The second changed the game. Leading 6-3 with 12:15 remaining and with Wake having bled out one second-half first down without benefit of penalty, the Jackets took possession at their 17. Run Choice and burn the clock, right? Uh, no.
Ball threw long for Johnson on first down. (It marked the seventh time on 11 second-half first-and-10s the Jackets had deigned to throw.) Johnson could have caught the ball but deflected it to Wake’s Riley Swanson instead. Wake took the turnover and drove to the tying field goal and soon to another.
Two Deacon catches — a third-down reception by backup tight end John Tereshinski, whose brother Joe caught a touchdown pass for Georgia on this field last season, and a deep ball to Willie Idlette between defenders Djay Jones and Jahi Word-Daniels — energized the drives. The Deacons, however, should never have been in position to win. Tech should have run Choice 31 times, not 21, and killed the game off. Tech should have played to its strength (Choice pounding), not its weakness (Ball flinging).
“It’s hard to go out there and give everything you have,” said linebacker KaMichael Hall, “and the last second runs off the clock and then you lose.”
Tech was talented enough to have beaten Georgia, to have beaten Wake, to be nuzzling up to the Top 10 as opposed to falling from the Top 25. As much as these Jackets did, they left too much undone. And they knew it.
“I don’t think it’s a breakthrough season,” said Hall, an icepack on his damaged ribs. “It’s not a breakthrough season if you can’t finish. We didn’t win a rivalry game and we didn’t win the ACC championship. It got away from us.”
Permalink | Comments (181) | Categories: Mark Bradley, Tech / ACC
SEC title game isn’t gateway to BCS title
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
There is a mindset that seems to go with being a member of the SEC. Take the big stadiums, the tailgates, the history, the bands, the fat-bottom boosters and some pretty good football, and this is what you get: a feeling that you have a hall pass for life.
“Hello. Can you kick somebody out of first class? I’m with the SEC.”
“Hello. Technically, we’re only the fourth-best team in the nation, but if it’s OK with you, we’re going to start booking flights to Arizona. And if it’s not OK with you, you’re a dolt.”
“Hello. I work at the Ace Hardware down the street, but I heard you needed open-heart surgery and …”
Saturday night, Florida will play Arkansas for the SEC title. But lately, it has all been about what happens next. If the Gators win, they will be 12-1 and screaming it’s their birthright to play Ohio State in the BCS title game.
There are at least five things this is not based on: 1) being smacked at Auburn; 2) stumbling but beating a weakened Georgia team by a touchdown; 3) winning by six at Vanderbilt; 4) winning by one point, at home, against South Carolina; 5) winning by seven over Florida State, which lost four of its final six and was shut out at home.
Now, I realize in an ideal world, this isn’t what should be debated today. The problem is, this isn’t an ideal world. It’s the SEC’s world.
Two weeks ago, Urban Meyer, a fine coach of a terrific team, began grumbling about the BCS rankings and the need for a playoff system. He reiterated those remarks when it was clear few were wowed by the Gators’ 24-17 win in Tallahassee.
Decrying the need for “style points,” Meyer told reporters: “You know what I’ve got to worry about? I’ve got to worry about making sure our offensive line gets better next week. But style points? If that’s what’s making decisions, then I want to stand by my comment a week ago. Implode it. It’s over.”
Meyer’s desire to implode the BCS only puts him in the majority. The problem with making an issue of it the past two weeks is he fed the monster. He tried to downplay the potential BCS distraction at a Friday news conference. But the song would’ve played better if he hadn’t already, well, whined.
This was as far as Meyer would take the subject Friday: “Our focus is on what we have to take care of. I truly have great respect for the Southeastern Conference, and any SEC team that plays 11, 12 games in this conference, good things should happen to that team, if they are fortunate enough to win it. I don’t have time to really study what’s going on elsewhere.”
“Good things should happen” to the SEC winner. (Read: BCS title game.)
Never mind what happens with teams elsewhere. (Read: “I would not wash the feet of my pigs in their conference.”)
Ohio State is unbeaten. Ohio State doesn’t need an argument.
Michigan was ranked second when it lost at Ohio State by a field goal. Michigan shouldn’t need an argument. It deserves a rematch.
Southern Cal, after its only loss to Oregon State, won its next four games by 42, 25, 14 and 20 points, the last over Notre Dame. Pending Saturday’s game against UCLA, USC is the ONLY other school that has an argument — geography notwithstanding.
Urban Meyer believes style points shouldn’t determine rankings. But in a subjective system, style counts. Don’t argue the SEC is vastly superior. That’s not an automatic. Don’t complain, Urban, that you have to play a conference title game when the others don’t because it was your conference that made the money grab.
There is no feasible or fair playoff system. Either you would have too many teams, in which case you’re playing in March, or not enough teams, in which case too many get jobbed.
A solution: Go back to the old bowl system. The matchups were better. There were more games meant more on or around New Year’s. At most, add one playoff game after the bowls.
Until then, we have the BCS. Saturday night is an SEC title game. That’s all it should be. Because the “S” in BCS doesn’t stand for Southeastern.
Permalink | Comments (88) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, UGA / SEC
All business, no hype for Jackets
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Jacksonville — Always “the other team” in its state, Georgia Tech is likewise “the other team” here. Wake Forest is the warm-and-fuzzy component of the ACC championship game. The Jackets are the guys this city might not invite back should they lose Saturday.
You’d think a team playing for an outright title would arrive with few negatives attached, but Tech alit in Duval County being treated as damaged goods. The Jackets lost to Georgia in a game so deflating it made their fans wonder if their school will ever beat the Bulldogs again, and then Tech became the crux of a catfight between the Gator Bowl, which will be staged here New Year’s Day, and the ACC.
And somewhere the greater point has been obscured: That one of the half-dozen best Tech teams of the past 35 years stands a great chance — the Jackets are favored over Wake, lest we forget — to claim only the Institute’s third conference crown since 1952. No, they didn’t beat the Bulldogs, but who would have believed in August the assemblage from Georgia gracing a conference championship game would be “the other team”?
“It is a great opportunity,” Chan Gailey said Friday. “It’s something that hasn’t happened in a while.”
So many things have gone right that it’s unfair to fixate on the stumbles. Calvin Johnson became the ACC’s player of the year and a first-team All-American. A fleet and fierce defense drew national notice. A coach stuck on seven wins already has won nine and could win 11. A program that has never landed in a BCS bowl would book passage for the glitzy Orange Bowl with a victory today. Does losing to Georgia really override all that?
Said Gailey: “Would we like to be undefeated? Sure, why not? But we’ve lost three games, and one of them happened to be last week. In my opinion, I don’t believe there’ll be any type of hangover effect. If anything, there’s a little bit of burning in the pit of our stomach.”
Pepto-Bismol might bring temporary relief. Beating Wake would provide something more lasting. As Gailey said, “When you hang that [conference championship] banner in your stadium, that’s for eternity. They might renovate the stadium, but the banner stays.”
The run-up to the game itself has been all Wake. The front sports page of Friday’s Times-Union featured a massive photo of the words “Wake Forest” being painted in the Alltel Stadium end zone and an accompanying feature on Deacons coach Jim Grobe. At the bottom of the page was a tease to a story on C7: “Gator Bowl officials say there isn’t a deal in place to take Georgia Tech if it loses in the ACC title game.” Some welcome, huh?
Not that Gailey, who doesn’t traffic in artifice, noticed or cared. “This is a business trip,” he said. “I think Tech people understand business.”
As for Wake being cast as Cinderella: “I’ve never played Cinderella. I hope they play like Cinderella.”
Tech, as is often the case, finds itself in a peculiar place: It has had too many winning seasons to be seen as a bolt from the blue, but it hasn’t won quite big enough to have stamped itself as a power player. But that’s the perception from the periphery, something else Gailey claims doesn’t matter: “If you let other people dictate how you feel, you’re in a bind.”
So let’s flash back to August, to a conversation with an ultimate insider. “We’re looking for 10 wins,” said Mansfield Wrotto, the offensive tackle, “or nine wins or more, and to play for the ACC championship.”
Here it is December, and here the Jackets are, dead on track. If they didn’t win every game they could have, they nonetheless won enough to clinch a division that includes Virginia Tech and Miami with a week to spare. They don’t have to apologize. They made it on merit.
Permalink | Comments (63) | Categories: Mark Bradley, Tech / ACC
Services »
